#which sucks for any animal but especially a year and a half old puppy who wants to play so he just sits in there and barks for fucking HOURS

[rasairui]

"Uhhh violence never the answer it's childish to start fights" it's also childish to refuse any and all criticism and expect everyone around you to bend over backwards to accommodate your every fucking whim and never do the same in return. If YOU make YOURSELF impossible to have a mature conversation with, people are going to stop trying.

[kelpiemomma]

I have some much rage bottled up hearing about people about your grandma.

It invalidates the years of training and verification of actual service animals

Her pup sounds just excitable and friendly, which sounds harmless in paper but the issue is, that it's untrained and no sense of boundaries. This especially concerning since your grandmother puts her dog inside senior specific facilities.

And untrained pup is more unpredictable than a trained pup

That puts the safety of others in danger, it can put her dog in danger, and put your grandma herself in legal trouble too.

Sorry for making you hear this rant from this stranger, just know you are not alone on your frustration on your nan.

Yeah, it sucks!

It's been mentioned to her before that her LAST dog, the one who went to the senior care facilities, wasn't a real service dog but an emotional support dog without any proper training. My grandma did one training class at PetSmart with her after the dog was a year old and never went further, just got a note from her doctor that the dog was an ESA. That dog was the one who was going places with my grandma with the bare minimum training, that frustrated myself and my parents because we knew she wasn't a real service dog but to my grandma she was. (my grandma also believes our asshole border collie liked this former dog because "she was older, so she was the alpha in the house" even though the asshole border collie came into our home as a puppy with 3 older dogs and hated every one of their guts to the point of starting fights regularly with them 🙃 which is. a different story. point is, my grandma has no fucking idea about actual dog behavior or training).

Her CURRENT dog has gone approximately three places- to our home (my grandma went and picked her up from the breeder's), to the vet's office for her shots & spay procedure, and to the home of a friend of my grandma's. She's never been to any senior care facilities, thankfully, but also her lack of outside interaction is part of her problem. She has no boundaries, yet is scared of the outside world if my grandma isn't around. When she first arrived my parents and my grandma made excuses for her bad behavior as "she's a puppy", naturally. Pissing in the house? She's a puppy. Say "what have you done!", clean it up, and move on. Jumping on people? She's a puppy! She's small and its cute :3 Harassing the older dogs to the point they snap at her to try and teach her boundaries? She's a puppy!!! They should tolerate it because she's a baby!! She's attempting to teach the new pup to ring a bell on the door for when she needs to go potty but i don't think my grandma knows what she's doing, and with potty pads on the floor I don't think the dog really cares to learn. It's been a month of the bell and the only one to touch it has been my grandma.

I don't know for sure if the vest she got is an actual service dog vest, honestly. It was red and covered half her back, it looked like one but I didn't see the words "service dog" on it. However I also didn't look too close because I didn't want to start an argument when I noticed it. If it is another service dog vest I will honestly be pissed and will have both my parents help me get her into a discussion about it, because this dog is less trained than the last one and my grandma has shown no initiative to give her more training. As I said, it has gone nowhere but 3 places, it barely leaves the house, my grandma never walks her, she still is jumping on the faces of the dogs she's around, she still jumps on people, she still pisses & shits in the house... I hope to god she doesn't actually try to take it anywhere!

[writefightandflightclub]

Trial by Fire (Part 1/3) Santiago “Pope” Garcia x GN reader

Summary: You’re finally introducing your new boyfriend to The Boys. It must be intimidating for your guy because, hello? Not only are they literally lethal, as well as infeasibly handsome, but they’re hella protective of you to boot. They want the best for you so, naturally, they make your guy run the gauntlet the whole evening. Santiago, though? Well. Given that he is secretly in love with you? Let’s just say he doesn’t handle the situation very well at all.

Genre / tropes: angst, friends to lovers, love confession.

Author’s note: I wasn’t planning on writing this (in fact I’m writing the opposite, where “Santi has a new girlfriend and you don’t take it well” as a series, loosely based around the 7 deadly sins); but, in the meatime, I wrote this to get back into the swing of things after a lil break. It’s just a quick one, but there will be a second and final part, if you want it! Let me know!

Word count: somehow, 4.4k.

Warnings: language, angst, best friends arguing, Santi being an asshole.

Rating: T

The boys aren’t being as awful as you had anticipated, at least. For the most part, they’re actually being pretty friendly, and although they’ve transitioned into grilling Dean about every aspect of his life, they are at least listening intently and smiling at his answers. All except for one fucker, of course; and, naturally, surprising no-one, the fucker misbehaving is one (1) Santiago “Pope” Garcia. 

The group - the boys, yourself, and Dean- are huddled comfortably around the blazing warmth of the fire pit in Frankie’s yard. The dancing, oranged flames cut through the dark and cold of the crisp night, as you sit upwind of the smoke on scattered, mis-matched camp chairs.

Whilst the others are evidently enjoying the evening -faces painted with smiles, body language open and leaning-in to chat to Dean- that fucker Santi is leaning back in his chair, his jaw twitching in seeming aggravation, his arms folded, and his intense eyes needling your beau. In this dim light, with the firelight licking over the sharp planes of his face, he looks every bit like a trained killer about to leap out of the shadows and garotte someone. Well… a very petulant trained killer. His call sign should have been Mr. Grumpy Pants, you think idly.

What’s up with him this time?! you wonder.

He gets these moods sometimes. And, when it strikes him, he can be a little bit hostile - despite the fact he’s a puppy underneath it all. You had hoped that for once, maybe he would suck it up, and yet, your hopes had been in vain, it seems.

Every time Dean speaks, or touches you, or even laughs at another of the guys’ stories, Santi’s expression sinks further and further through layers of distaste; and, by this point, he’s eyeing Dean as though he’s a war criminal the squad have been sent to take-out. You half expect him to leap up and take down Frankie any second for fraternizing with “the enemy”, if you’re honest.

Truth be told, you’ve had just about enough of this. Your friend had better buck his ideas up, sharpish, or he’d be reminded very swiftly that you were Delta Force too.  

For now, trying to ignore the bastard, you look back at Dean, and the sight of him in animated conversation with your buddies causes at least some of your aggravation to fall away. Things have been going well between you and Dean, even if you do say so yourself. Originally from Michigan, he now worked as a lecturer at a nearby music school. He was also a banjo musician in a bluegrass / synth power-pop mash-up of a band, which (sort of) explained his retro-inspired mop of brown hair and his thick dark moustache - majestic enough to rival Frankie’s. True, he wasn’t your usual type, but he was honest, and sweet and kind... Plus, he’d never killed anyone with his bare hands, which was rather refreshing too, if you were honest.

Safe to say, so far, things were working out. So well, in fact, that you’d recently met his parents for the first time while they were in town. So well, in fact, that -after keeping him purposefully away from the boys for as long as you feasibly could- you’d now brought him to meet your family. That’s what this squad was to you, after all. Your family.

Remembering sporadic moments from the past few months together, you smile gently as you listen to Dean talk. You watch him seamlessly integrate some tailored conversation starters you’d fed him ahead of time, and you gently squeeze his thigh in an act of reassurance and appreciation. He is feeling the pressure, you can tell, although he is handling it well. To be fair, you think, who wouldn’t feel the pressure? You’d been nervous enough to meet his parents, but this? A bunch of Delta Force guys and an MMA champion? This squad was lethal; literally -you’ve lost track of your combined kill count, though Will probably hasn’t, you are sure.

Aside from that though, most of all, they are your family. You need them to like Dean and vice versa, and you know that isn’t necessarily a given. You are a tight-knit group, with little hope of outsiders grasping the full extent of your decade’s old in-jokes, or the intense camaraderie instilled by facing a hail of bullets together. Plus, as the baby of the group, they were protective as all hell of you.

It came from a good place, you knew: they wanted what was best for you. But, there was a reason you’d delayed this meeting... It’s not as though they were threatening or anything. They didn’t do the whole “if you hurt our buddy, I’ll kill you” thing, for example (at least, not while you were present – you couldn’t vouch for what happened when you were out of earshot).  However, after introducing a succession of boyfriends to them over the years, the squad had developed a well-rehearsed system for sizing-up your new squeeze. In the past, not all of your squeezes had made it through the gauntlet. It was a trial by fire, to be sure, and you were pleased that Dean has not yet been burned.

Of course, whilst the boys’ approval didn��t mean everything to you, you couldn’t deny it was important; perhaps especially this time, with this guy. And, out of all of the group, Santi’s approval meant the most to you. Always had. Probably because Santi meant the most to you, full stop. You simply couldn’t imagine having someone in your life that didn’t get on with your best friend. And, so, you are not overly thrilled at the reception Santi is giving Dean right now. The reception he had been giving him all evening, in fact. And the more you dwell on it, the more an anger bubbles forth from you. Even though you try to push it down, and focus on Dean, that fucker in the corner of your eye sends you.

“What’s wrong with you tonight, Garcia?” you blurt out, a little louder than intended, causing the amiable chat and giggles to stall, all eyes turning to you - then, in turn, following the direction of your fiery gaze over to Santi, who shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

Now, he leans forward. Looks back at you with a rare venom in his eyes. With a smug curl of his mouth, he dips to pick up his beer from the floor and takes a swig - buying himself some time. Trying to brush you off. Still, your gaze does not relent as he rests his elbows on his thighs, bridging his fingers together in the space between, thumbs sticking in the air.

Now, he engages, and he looks directly at Dean, his eyes sweeping dismissively over the entirety of his form. Now, he speaks, his voice filled with far more bitterness than the situation merits. “Nothing at all. I’m fucking peachy. So, Dean. You play the motherfuckin’ banjo?” he offers, and yet, it sounds far more like an accusation than a question.

What the fuck is up with him?

Wilting a little beneath Santi’s stare, as the ex-operative squints his eyes in his direction, Dean casts a helpless, sideward glance at you from his place in the circle, and yet, you are so stupefied by anger that you can do little to help.

“I think what my dear friend means to say -” Frankie dips in valiantly, smacking Santi pointedly on the thigh, likely hoping to smack some sense into him too “- is why don’t you tell us more about your music, Dean?”

Frankie’s eyes and smile are soft when he looks at you, surreptitiously exchanging a pointed look -what’s up with that pendejo?- and you are grateful that at least some of the evident tension is diffused when he picks up the slack in the conversation.

Santi and his mood swings be damned, and, feeling bolstered, Dean continues on.  

“Actually, it’s going pretty frickin’ well with the band. It’s a side-gig to my lecturing job, but we’re planning a tour during summer vacation. The States -east coast- and Western Europe for now. Maybe headlining a couple of small festivals, if that pans out, who knows.” Dean relates, humbly.

“That’s great, man,” Will chips in, helping Frankie get things back on track. “We’ll have to come down to a gig soon, hear you play.”

“Actually, we have something to tell you about the tour, don’t we, babe?” Dean says bashfully, and he looks at you expectantly, waiting for you to pick-up the thread. You’d talked about it before coming today, and it had seemed like a great idea at the time, but suddenly, now that the announcement is imminent, your mouth is dry - as if filled with cotton. Still, you force a smile, and you’re not sure why, but you look anywhere else but at Santi as your lips form the words. “Yeah – kinda big news, fellas. I’m going to join Dean on the Europe leg of the tour. I’ll be leaving you losers behind for a few months.”

Dean’s face cracks into a smile and he reaches for your hand, looking made-up at the prospect. Still, while you will yourself to be fully present in the moment, you find yourself focussed on looking anywhere but at Santi, sure that his stare must be boring into the side of your head. You hadn’t told him yet. Unfortunately, at Santi is where just about everyone else ends up looking, as the fucker abruptly pushes his camp chair back and stands, storming indoors before anyone can hope to fathom it.

You exchange glances with Frankie, Will, and Benny, with Benny thankfully stepping-in this time to distract Dean from the obvious, and asking him which stops you two will be making, and which sights you plan to see.

“Look, man, don’t mind that tool. Got any sightseeing plans?”

What is Santi’s problem? Why can’t he give Dean a chance? Yes, you’ve made some mistakes in the past- been hurt, and Santi had helped you pick up the pieces -every time- but you had a good feeling about Dean. A really good feeling. Can’t he see that too?

Frankie throws a concerned glance back towards the house and motions as if to stand, but you beat him to it, wanting to get to the bottom of this. “I’ll go,” you insist, motioning for Frankie to stay put, and with a quick promise to Dean that you’ll be back soon (and a silent plea to your boys to take care of him in your absence), you do just that, walk-jogging across the grass.

When you step inside to the kitchen, you find Santi stood, hunched over the counter, his palms clasping the surface tight enough that his knuckles pale, and his head hung low, his shoulders rising and falling as he takes in exaggerated breaths.

“Well?” you ask pointedly, with zero tolerance for his bullshit. “What’s going on with you? Wanna explain why you’re being an ass to my boyfriend?” you challenge to the back of him, and he instantly whips around at the sound of your voice. 

“I’m being an ass?” he asks indignantly, his eyebrows shooting towards the top of his head. 

“Yes. In a nutshell. Yes,” you hiss, any other interpretation feeling impossible. You fold your arms and purse your lips, making it plainly evident that you are waiting for some explanation. And, oh boy, it had better be good.

Instead of explaining though, Santi simply huffs out breath, gesturing angrily out of the window. “That guy, really? That’s the guy you’re gonna go all in for? Go to fucking Europe for?”

That guy, you mouth silently, completely stupefied for a moment. You’re not sure exactly what your so-called friend is insinuating, but you are clear that you don’t like it one bit.

“What is your fucking problem?” you ask, punctuating your words with motions of your hands, as if you are trying to strangle the air in-between you in lieu of his neck. “Dean’s a catch. He’s hot, he’s sweet, he’s a nice guy. He’s there for me. He takes care of me.”

“Like I don’t take care of you?!” Santi exclaims, his voice rising and abrasive; and then, immediately after the words tumble forth from his lips, he steps back imperceptibly, as if startled by his own outburst, his hand rasping over the stubble on his chin.

“What in the...? This isn’t about you, you ass!” you bite back, face scrunching up in confusion. Your fingers come to your temples as you grow increasingly lost-off and perplexed, and seemingly, your riposte only makes Santi double down on whatever the hell he is complaining about.

“Who’s the one who’s always been there for you, hmm? Who picks up the pieces every time you make yet another dumb shitty choice with another shitty guy?” he rambles, gesturing his hand towards you dismissively.

You step back from him this time, just a little, tears spiking instantaneously in your eyes at such an unnecessarily cruel blow. He’s right, in a sense: you had always relied on Santi to heal you, not to hurt you - and yet here he was dealing these painful, incoherent blows out of nowhere.

“Shit, Garcia. If it’s that much trouble to be there for me don’t bother next time,” you snap, your voice breaking as the swell of anger and hurt and adrenalin sends tears spilling over your cheeks. “Don’t worry though, I don’t think I’ll need you again. In fact, I have a feeling this guy might stick. So, maybe? Maybe you should think about the fact that the only shitty guy around here is you.” 

“You really think he’s good enough for you, hmm? He’s really who you want to end up with?”

You listen, aghast, as his tirade keeps coming. However, as Santi’s voice breaks with emotion part-way through his second question, you can’t explain it, but you feel an intolerable sadness in the pit of you. Even though you’re not sure what’s causing all this, what you’re barrelling toward, you want to thrust this sadness away from you. Push him away from you.  You want to push away the knot in your stomach for fear that if you tug at that thread, you might arrive at an answer to his question.

Exasperated, overwhelmed, you roughly paw tears from your cheeks, not knowing where all of these feelings are coming from, in either direction. “Fuck, I... I don’t understand what this is. I don’t get it!” you say, waving your hands, palms-up, through the air. “Is this some macho bullshit? Have I pissed you off somehow?”

At that, the wave of Santi’s anger crests and breaks; as you wonder if you annoyed him. Then, as suddenly as his anger came it is waning, his eyes pooling with rare tears now. With a huff of breath he tears off his damn cap, tossing it aside to run a hand through his grizzled hair. 

“No. No,” he backtracks a little, palms up in surrender. “You haven’t... I.... I just...” He pinches his lips in-between his teeth and looks up at the ceiling as his words trail off, perhaps trying to steady his voice before continuing. Or, perhaps he has nothing else to say to you. Perhaps he’s said enough.

You examine him. Still pissed as all hell, but worried now too, and ultimately, your love for your best friend slightly edging-out the anger. It’s rare that anything affects him like this, and you can’t help the sudden rush of concern.

Cresting too, you exhale a tightly held breath into the now silent, taut space between you, and your body sags - just a little. You chew over your words a moment, but when your voice comes back the volume is lower, your tone softer - and, although it cannot be considered friendly, by any stretch, it’s the best you can do right now.

“You know what,” you offer, generously, wrapping your arms around your own middle, stroking your forearms with your own fingertips. “I’m giving you a pass. You don’t even want to give Dean a chance? Then just leave, Santi. Just go. I’ll give the guys some bullshit excuse that doesn’t leave you looking like a total ass, because I’m not a dick to my friends. So just go, okay?” You pump your eyebrow at him indignantly and await a response, your manner stiff and unyielding.

Santi closes his eyes and knits his brow together, something like regret finally passing over his face and he shuffles guiltily from foot-to-foot.

You puff out air through your teeth and shake your head, as you observe this Delta Force hero; the bravest man you know in many ways, but still too cowardly to tell it like it is. To admit that he’s in the wrong. You are afraid to say that even as his gaze comes back to you, misty-eyed, you have little sympathy for his plight. You are sure it is of his own doing. You are almost as sure that he won’t open-up.

“You know,” you begin, breaking from your position and gathering up a fresh cooler of beers from the fridge, turned away from him as you speak. “I brought Dean to meet my family. Do you understand that? I didn’t have parents and siblings for him to meet. I have you guys. You’re my family.”

Still nothing. Nothing but silence greets you. Nothing but a pained expression on his face, his brows drown together and the artificial light of the kitchen highlighting the harsh planes of his face as you look over your shoulder at him, waiting for some reaction. Some admission of guilt. None comes. He simply slots his hands into his jean pockets, looking sheepish.

“So,” you continue, greeted with a brick wall, “fuck knows why you don’t want me to be happy, but I am. I’m happy with him. Thanks a ton for shitting all over that.”

You don’t even bother to look towards him this time, instead placing the last of the clinking, condensation-adorned bottles into the carrier, resigned to head back out without him, and without any apology.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says, and your head whips towards him in surprise.

He looks it - sorry. He looks apologetic. Deeply so. He looks sorry for this, for every way he’s ever slighted you, for every time he’s hurt you, even in ways and moments you never knew about. He looks sorry down to the pit of him, and it catches you off-guard when you see it freely offered there in his eyes.

Even so, this is a stubborn man. There’s an apology, but there’s no explanation. Nothing to explain his behaviour. So, even though it seems genuine, it also doesn’t seem like enough.

It doesn’t appease you, and yet, all you can bring yourself to do is sigh deeply.

You know Santi better than anyone, but there’s always been a part of him that has seemed out of reach, even to you. You’re not sure -never have been- whether to be scared or excited by those unknown parts of him. Not sure whether the impasse hints at buried secrets too dark and deep to bear, or whether it hints of a possibility of something more. Something deeper or something better you could have together, if only he would let you in. You don’t know, and you never have, but all you are sure of is that you have constantly teetered on the edge of that abyss, too much left unknown to know all of him, however much you may have wished to. He’s entitled to his secrets, of course, but you hate how they hurt him. 

With a little sympathy now, you examine his watery eyes, and when your voice comes back this time, it is softer and slower than you intended. More tired than you expected.

“You know, Dean wants to be with me. And he tells me so.” You casually dip down to pick-up the cooler handle, eyes still fixed on your best friend. “He might not be Delta Force… he might be a banjo player from Michigan… but even he’s brave enough for that.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Santi says, bristling all over again, his hand rasping angrily over his stubbled jaw, and yet, you decline him an explanation. Instead, keeping your own secrets now, holding back, you head towards the door, beers in hand.

Still, you turn back to him. You might be angry, but you still care for him -more than you could say. 

“If you figure out what’s up with you, let me know, and I’ll be there for you. Whatever you’ve got going on, you know that, right? But this? This isn’t okay, Garcia. You might think that I make dumb choices -you ass, by the way- but I’ve watched you hit self-destruct so many times instead of dealing with your feelings. Maybe you should look at your own life, huh, instead of shitting all over me for trying to be happy? Shit, at least I fucking try.”

His eyes shift from side to side in the room, the muscles in his jaw twitching, chin jutting forward, and his thumbs locked in his belt loops. He can’t quite bring himself to meet your gaze; at least not until you are disappearing through the threshold; until it’s almost too late. Why can’t he ever manage anything unless it’s too late?

“Wait!” he pleads, but you cut him off, before he can speak. Even though, truth be told, you’re not sure he would muster anything to say at all, even if you gave him a chance. He’s so used to holding back.

“No,” you say firmly. “Forget it, I’m done. I still love you- you’re my best friend. But, fuck, just go home, and get out of my sight, Santiago. I’m so pissed with you right now.”

And so, you turn away, and when his words finally do come, they are spoken to the back of your head. They are spoken without you ever seeing his lips move, and you wonder if he ever said them at all, or if this might be some cruel trick of the night. Some witching hour spell. That is, until you turn towards him and you see the words painted clearly on his face too.

“Fuck it. I’m in love with you.”

I’m in love with you.

Why can’t he ever manage anything unless it’s too late?

You’re not sure what reaction he was expecting, but you almost choke on the sudden lump in your throat. You feel a taste of bile rising-up into your mouth. An intense, resurgent anger fills you, which near makes the room spin, and makes your hands and your legs tremble.

Even if a hidden, unconscious part of you has been waiting, hoping for these words all these years, when they finally come all you can feel is... royally pissed off.

“Oh. No. No. No,” you repeat, words gradually increasing in volume, looking at Santi as if he has mortally wounded you, rather than offered that confession. “You do not get to do this to me.”

You see a hard swallow bob down his throat, a near-instant regret on his face, and your heart pounds in your chest as you reel with the implications of his words.

The coward. The fucking asshole. He waited until now? All the times things had gone to shit, and he waited until you were happy?

“All the times...” you accuse, your tone as bitter as the taste in your mouth, the metallic tang of blood as you feel a rushing in your ears. “All the fucking times. All the chances, Santi, and you do this now?” you continue, your finger sawing through the air, wagging accusations at him, even as your voice wavers, as your hands notceably tremble. “No. Fuck you, Garcia. Fuck you.”

You want to cry, or scream, but you are too angry. So angry, that it eclipses anything else which might come to light. So angry that you almost come full circle again, beginning to stabilise out at eerily calm.

Santi looks down at the floor, and exhales air, chuckling disbelievingly to himself, then lightly nodding his head, lips pressed tightly together. His feet shift agitatedly below him as he brings his endlessly familiar eyes back up to meet yours. This time when he looks at you, it hurts. You remember bullet wounds, and you swear that was nothing compared to this.

“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say to me, hmm? Fuck you, Garcia?”

“What the fuck were you expecting?” you say, launching your words before you realise the implications of them. Yes, you know fine well that your boyfriend is sitting outside, likely wondering where you have got to. But, if you had the wherewithall to have thought about it, you would know exactly what Santi was expecting, despite all of that. You would know that a part of him must be expecting, hoping, that when he told you, you might reciprocate. That you might love him back.

And, would that be so outside of the realms of possibility? Would it be so hard to imagine that the deep, magnetic, and unshakeable friendship you shared could be something else? Something more? That you could tip over the edge you had long been teetering on? Maybe it could, or maybe it could have, but right now, you can’t see past the flashbang he has just dropped over your life, and it is clouding your vision.

You were happy. You are happy. Fuck him for doing this now.

Why would you fall into the unknown for him, if you never knew whether he would catch you? If you never knew whether ruin or safety awaited you if you let yourself tip? He always held back.

What the fuck were you expecting?

Your words linger in the space between you, and in lieu of any other lifeline, realisation dawns on Santi’s face. Realisation that, although he jumped, you are not intending to catch him either. But how could you catch him, with your arms already full?

And, so, he slowly nods his head once again, his eyes beading with glassy tears and his hand grazing over his chin in a self-soothing gesture. Wordlessly, he sets his jaw and he abruptly replaces his baseball cap on his head, padding a few steps forward to stand opposite you, sucking all of the breath from your lungs. This time, when he looks at you, you see all of your past, but you still can’t see beyond that. The abyss still scares you too much.

Like this, facing each other down, eye-to-eye, the silence in the room grows sharp as a knife, refined to a point. So, when Santi abruptly turns to leave in a sharp, determined trajectory, without so much as looking at you, it is as if he has dragged the blade across your skin in an equally swift motion. As if he has left you open and bleeding-out, having delivered a mortal wound with the act of his exit. You’ve felt like this on the battelfield before, and in life, yet he was always there for you. Always there to patch you. To pick up the pieces.

Instead of screaming open-mouthed for help, this time, you simply watch him go, and now you are the wordless one, mustering nothing but a gasped inhale of breath before your vision blurs with tears - as you watch his hazy form disappear along the hall and out of your sight.

“Santi,” you call pathetically, your voice small and weak and teary, barely making it past your throat, and he doesn’t hear you. He doesn’t hear you but even if he had, you’re not sure anymore if he would have stopped.

When Santi slams the front door behind him, you shudder with it in its frame, your hand coming to your chest as if to hold your heart inside your opened-up ribs, and you close your eyes against the jarring sound, tears spilling down your cheeks, your face screwing-up into a shined, contorted grimace.

Entirely lost, now alone, you bizarrely wish for the room to be filled with anger again, instead of the intolerable sadness - which all too suddenly takes hold of you as your emotions crest and break. It is all you can do to stumble forward a few paces and hunch over the countertop, finding yourself in the exact position you had discovered Santi in. You stand, bracing yourself with your arms, fingers clutching the edge of the worktop, and your head slumped forward, tears freely spilling out of you as your chest heaves.

You wonder whether he’d held himself in this same position because he had felt an intolerable sadness too. An intolerable sadness at seeing you happy.

Suddenly you could understand it.

That fucker. Santiago “Pope” Garcia.

I’m in love with you.

I’m in love with you.

The words echo in your mind, but this time, if you’re honest, you’re not wholly sure if they’re his, or yours.

PART TWO IS HERE

[obeiii-mee]

How will the bros react to MC self-doubting themselves? Like saying bad things about them or can't be serious someone give them compliment.

Supportive demon bois coming right up! Sorry I took so long to write this anon! Thank you so much for the ask! (Also, thank you all for the love on my previous posts!)

————————————

The Brothers with an MC who self doubts themselves:

Lucifer:

-As the embodiment of pride itself, Lucifer has an overwhelming amount of confidence, almost all the damn time

-So, he was flabbergasted to learn that you weren’t the same

-He always insisted that you aren’t anything but perfect, yet you always seemed to brush the compliments off with a shrug and an awkward smile

-Well, shit, we can’t have that

-Lucifer just got 10x more serious about the matter

-He pulls a really stupid concerned face whenever you insult yourself and he looks more and more like a 48 year old man/dad each time it happens

-He, as of late, increased the number of pet names he has for you and the amount of compliments he gives you each day

-He refuses to let you talk badly about yourself anywhere, at any point in time and encourages every little step you take towards bettering yourself like crazy

- Lucifer wants to prove to you that you are an absolute ray of sunshine and he will go to any lengths to do just that (do not ask)

-He’s even more affectionate than usual which confuses just about everyone in the House of Lamentation, yourself included

-His brothers are feeling a disturbance in the force and they don’t know how to feel about it

-You are possibly the best thing that’s happened to him since he fell as angel and Lucifer is ready to do whatever he can to help you realise that

Mammon:

-“You’re an idiot!”

-“*Sigh*, I know.”

-“Wha-Wait! Y-you can’t say thAT!”

-The Great Mammon is seriously worried about his human

-Being the dense motherfucker he is (i still love him tho) it took him weeks to realise you’re not all that confident in yourself

-At some point in your relationship, he jokingly called you annoying and you just went “Yeah I’ve been told. Sorry.”

-His jaw literally dropped and he almost cried

-He would have choked if he was drinking something

-Tsundere Mammon has gone bye bye and here comes the cuddling teddy bear that is your boyfriend

-He also doesn’t have as much self love for himself as he sometimes pretends to have so he’s kinda in the same boat

-Which means your boat is leaking and you’re perfectly fine with it while he’s panicking and trying to throw water overboard with his hands

-His brothers call him an idiot a lot but he’s a very sociable guy with people skills that he uses all the time in order to coax you out of your self pitiying shell

-Will whine every time you call yourself ‘useless’ or disagree with his compliments because what the hell, you’re literally the most gorgeous being ever let me love youuuu

-When it comes to you and your happiness, he ain’t fucking around. He will snarl at anyone that even looks at you in the wrong way

-Did that to Lucifer once, guess a what happened

-You’ve definitely helped him come to terms with the fact that he is loveable and not a good for nothing scum

-So now it’s your turn!

-Let him kiss your insecurities away please

-Your presence makes him feel wanted so he wants the same for you!

Levi:

-Well then

-It takes two to tango ya know?

-He is the KING of self loathing and no confidence whatsoever in anything he does so every time you put yourself down, he counters it with a self deprecating insult as well

-“I suck.”

-“Nah, you’re pretty awesome normie. I’m the shut in, disgusting otaku who can barely set foot outside his bedroom without having an anxiety attack.”

-It’s like you’re trying to outdo the other on who is worse

-Truth is, he really admires you, especially knowing you chose to date him; an anime nerd with no social life and no communication skills whatsoever

-It hurts a bit, every time he builds up the courage to actually compliment you and you not taking it seriously

-That’s because he recognises that he’s the same and just as harsh on himself as you are

-Levi knows self hatred is something that takes time to demolish

-But you are his Henry after all (also his partner but whatevs)

-He’s not gonna leave you hanging when you need him the most

-He also gradually stops calling you a normie as your relationship progresses, though it still slips through every now and again

-Basically, the first time he realised that you think negatively of yourself, his immediate reaction was: Haha lmao relatable

-But now, every time it happens, he gets all serious

-Puts his controller down and everything, it’s like witnessing a very rare phenomenon and it’s creepy as shit

-He’s also made an effort to be more physically affection though he is kinda shy about it because damn it he just wants to hug you every time you speak badly of yourself

-Probably writes a list at some point stating all the reasons why you are better than him and Ruri chan combined, it’s rlly sweet

Satan:

-He’s a bit curious as to where that mentality has come from

-What triggered you to be so self doubtful?

-He’s basically your psychotherapist and asks you a lot of questions trying to find different causes and solutions for your issues

-Honestly, he puts so much effort into trying to understand, reading books about it from the human realm and whatever he can find in order to help you

-He scrunches up his nose every time you call yourself an idiot or anything of the sort

-Satan knows that insisting you’re wonderful won’t exactly help you overcome this problem of yours

-But that doesn’t stop him from doing it

-It’s not like you can ignore his comments because he will keep complimenting you until you accept them

-He also repeats a lot of pick up lines but that’s just part of being his partner

-What do you mean you’re worthless?!! He would literally give away all of his books and his hatred for Lucifer in exchange for your well being!

-Satan is possibly the smartest out of all of his brothers, so he uses a tactical approach on this one

-Direct affectionate gestures don’t work on you so he’s gonna be more subtle

-Would slightly hint that you are amazing every time you do something for him, like fetching him a book or something

-“Ah thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you love.”

-He’s a lot smoother than he gives himself credit for

-He just appreciates your existence and that there’s someone out there that he doesn’t need to be act hostile or fake toward

-Satan is ready to sit down and listen to you talk about your insecurities for hours on end

-You would quietly say something bad about yourself and he would run through the House of Lamentation before bursting into the room you are in, shouting ‘No! That’s wrong!’ (going Danganronpa on your asses)

-“Welp, I fucked up again. I can’t do anything right.”

-And then, in the distance you hear boss music starting

Asmo:

-*Shocked Gasp*

-How could you say such things about yourself???? Is that even leGAl?

-Of course, the literally prince of Lust, with all of his narcissism, has never experienced things like ‘self doubt’ of ‘bad self esteem’

-Pfft, the fuck is that?

-He only uses the most positive of words when he describes himself

-So obviously he almost falls off the bed when he hears you insulting yourself for the first time

-But ya know, that would leave bruises on his beautiful skin

-“Oh darling, you’re not annoying or a moron! You’re not anything like Mammon!”

-That was a below belt fatal hit, press f in the chat for the second eldest

-At some point, he just genuinely believes you’ve been spending too much time with Levi and that his negativity started rubbing off on you

-But then you tell him you’ve always been like this and he almost has a crisIS

-He’s like ‘Haha, no, we’re going to get a spa day out tomorrow and a few shopping sprees so I can prove to you that you are magnificent in every way imaginable.’

-Asmo loves pampering you in general but on the days he sees you feeling extra sorry for yourself, he goes above and beyond

-Gets very hurt when you brush off his compliments because he just wants you to accept the fact that you’re beautiful

-He’s like a supportive mom lmao, whenever you’re feeling self doubtful, he goes “You’re doing great sweetie, keep it up I’m really proud of you.”

-It’s up to you to decide whether that helps or not

-He’s such a sweetheart in reality, it’s hard to remember that he’s supposed to be horny all the time

-Well he is but that’s not the point, you’re way more important

-Asmo is so much fun to write cuz I can make him so dramatic it’s hilarious

Beel:

-Oh no :(

-He gets very sad everytime you self deprecate yourself

-You can’t do it with him in the room because he’s going to start crying and give you this kicked puppy stare, it will break your heart

-Beel kinda comes over and goes “If I give you some of my food will you please stop saying bad things about yourself? Because it’s not true.”

-Well you can’t say no to that face

-He feels like it’s his fault you’re this self doubtful even though you’ve tried to explain to him you’ve always been like this

-He goes crying to his twin half the time because he doesn’t know what to do

-“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to drop it! Fucking hell, I’m such a fucking klutz.”

-“Sniffle no you’re not.”

-He’s like, giving you large portions of his food now

-Because food makes him happy so he wants you to be happy too

-🙂

-His brothers go in shock every time because the only other person Beel has ever shared his food with before was Belphie

-Physical affection goes through the roof with this guy

-Bone crushing hugs btw

-Your self worth is so immeasurable with him, you can’t even measure it

-W h o a

-I’m being serious, don’t talk badly about yourself in front of him unless you want to be hugged into next week

-You are a literal angel in his eyes, of course he thinks highly of you

-He’s just hoping his presence isn’t making your self esteem worse, that’s the thing that keeps him up at night

-Idk why but he does think that he is a bad influence on your mental well being since he’s a demon

-Beel gives you compliments all the time and it confuses him when you laugh them off uncertainly because he wasn’t joking or lying??

-He’s always supportive of your choices and encourages you to be more confident

-The same way you show your support everytime you come to his games to cheer him on

-Overall, he just wants you to feel special and appreciated

-Because you deserve it

-IneedmyselfaBeel

Belphie:

-He feels like absolute shit

-Becuase he’s well aware he‘s called you a few...not so nice words in the past

-Back then, he only thought he meant everything he said but now that he’s hearing you accept his insults and actually repeating them yourself?

-It hurts his brain and he wants to smash his head against all four walls of the room for being such a cretin

-You do tell him it’s not exactly his fault you think so badly of yourself

-But he still believes he fueled it

-So now he needs to fix it

-He’s tried everything and I mean everything

-It’s kinda working, slow progress is made which he’s really happy about but you know, it’s gonna take a while

-He finally settles on physical affection as the best way to communicate his gratefulness for you being youself

-Oh, he wasn’t hugging you before? He is now, get your ass next to him and let him cuddle you

-Handholding has increased by 69% in the last month, sorry for the loss of your right hand with how much he squeezes it

-Sometimes, he can’t help but a throw an insult at you in a playful manner, because he’s an asshole

-But he always makes sure you understand that he was just joking

-He’s such a little shit, you would be having a chat with him and you would subtly drop a insult at yourself hoping he wouldn’t notice

-But then he stops dead in his tracks, kisses you, says “Shut up, you’re stunning” and then he goes right back to the previous conversation like nothing happened

-Accept his compliments damn it otherwise he will continue to bug you about it for the rest of the day

-He’s an eboy and he’s a dickhead a times, but he just goes soft for you tbh

-If you’re feeling really bad about yourself, he won’t even say anything

-He will just big spoon you for the next 24 hours, good luck going to the bathroom or any meals during that time

-Because once you’re in his grip, you’re not getting out that easily

-He gets so pissy if anyone says something even slightly negative about you to your face

-One time, a random demon called you stupid in one of the classes at RAD and he was like ‘bïtch excuse me what?’

-Snapped his head around at him and everything

-He would have done something worse but he was lazy and feeling really petty

-So Belphie kicked him in the privates from under his desk like a damn spoiled brat

-And then he turned his head back to you, all smiles and rainbows and puppies

-I’m simping so hard for a fictional character wtf

-I had to write more protective Belphie cuz I can’t find anything of the sort anymore and I need flUFF

(Haha, I don’t know what this post is, my writing has officially taken a shit lmao. Sorry this took so long to finish, I kept going back to edit all of them)

Al~

[not-bumbles-guthrie]

When The Beasts Run Wild

A weird choice for a first tumblr post but alas! I must undermine expectation! If you’re unlucky enough to be interested in reading this, here’s a little description:

In a deserted environment, brutalized by nuclear fallout, we find Cherry. She’s a quiet, nihilistic young woman plagued by the knowledge that she has lived her entire life in the remains of a society that no longer exists. The story follows her as her fellow survivors celebrate the Summer Solstice. Unfortunately, more seems to be at hand as it dawns upon Cherry and her lover that the world might be ending soon.

When it came to the explosion, no one imagined it would lead to the downfall of humanity. It would lead us to a return to order, an acoustic version of the world the humans had created. They would no longer be a part of it. It was a strange concept to grow used to as the days passed, and people were eaten at by the radiation. Of course, there were people that ran to the nuclear hostels, the ones hidden deep in the underbelly of Mother Earth. Yet, they talk of those places being overrun. One person says they were there when the President was found, slumped over. She’d also been killed by the radiation from the second blast. The person who told me this would die too in the coming weeks. Her face was bloodied when she took her last breath, shaky and demure. Then, with a flourish, she sucked in one last time, as hard as she could, and breathed out, “Fin!” While she didn’t have the strength for that exclamation point, I like to imagine her enthusiasm behind it is deserving of the emphasis.

Dogs run free now. If I had to take a guess on who ruled the expanse of land Mother left us, it would be them. She seems to have made them impervious to the air, to the invisible killer. Then again, we believe that she made us impervious to the same air. Perhaps we are just lucky, though. The dogs are destined. Eventually, we will die out. I don’t think the same can be said about the puppies, with their floppy ears and jovial smiles that cut through the particles.

I toss a piece of my flatbread to the yappy pup at my ankle. Her name is Annika, after Queenie’s grandmother who survived the first blast only to die because of the second one. She isn’t my dog; unlike most of the people here, I don’t choose dogs. They find me, visit me, and then they drift away either to their human companions or back to the dust and decay. Mother Earth would’ve blessed me with one if She wanted me to tend to a dog. They are Her chosen successors, after all. I’m merely here to die and be eaten by one of them when the time comes for my body to return to Mother through a dog’s shit that will hopefully make this land fertile once more.

Or maybe it won’t. Who fucking cares? It’s not like there’s a 9 a.m. office job to attend or a peewee football game to cheer on my snot-nosed kids at. There’s the dogs, the open sores, the radiation, and Mother Earth. That’s all. Those are the last things a human will ever know.

I used to ponder what the limits of humanity would be. I thought I would see the end of it, and that ending would be magical. We would finally know what the finality of the human brain was, what its capacity was. However, it’s become quickly apparent that in my eighteen years, nothing will ever show me that capacity. This is the capacity. The height of human invention and creativity? Its own destruction. How poetic. And to think, I was a baby and I missed it all.

It’s weird, living in a sarcophagus of time. I know everything about a culture that is dead. A species that is dead. Soon, I will be dead too. I’ve been told, by a doctor who lives in the camp, that most of us will only make it another 15 years. Maybe I’ll make it longer, he said, because I miraculously survived the first two blasts before the age of five. If I didn’t die then, perhaps I’m meant to last long enough to outlive the cancers and the ARS. Personally, I don’t think he was a very smart doctor. Even I know that’s not how radiation works. Put simply, I will be dead. It’s only a matter of when Mother Earth decides to reclaim me.

Father sits in The Temple when I return with Annika. The growth of what few flowers and vegetables can be produced in this climate surround him, billowing at his feet. His toenails were kissed by the vines of the potatoes, which had grown gnarly like his bunions. Father was a sight for sore eyes, with the fallout aging him past his years. He deserved to have a big, great white beard, but alas. All he had to show for his near two decades of turmoil was a small patch of growth on his face. He no longer had a full head of hair, and the sores on his skull near his neck opened daily with each movement. That’s what filled my vision as I walked towards him, as his head was bowed in prayer.

“Father,” came out soft and trembling. I cleared my throat. No need for that.

“Any news? Has Her Graciousness spoken to you?”

He spoke about Mother with a reverence that no one in the group possessed. He worshipped her. My mouth became dry, and its taste made me nauseated. There was nothing to report. Mother Earth had never spoken to me. She never spoke to him, why would that change with me?

“Yes, Father. She has.”

His eyes widened, pupils dilating as he took in more light. Blue rhinestones. “What did She tell you?”

I glared at Annita, nudging my head to snap back and tell her to kindly fuck off. The stupid animal simply sat there and stared at me. I rolled my eyes. “Stupid girl,” I muttered before looking Father in his eyes. “Mother Earth tells me that we will be safe for the coming Solstice.”

We had no idea if the Summer Solstice was close or not, actually. We assumed, based on the markings Monsignor Karl had kept for the past nineteen years since the first blast knocked out the power grid in the eastern hemisphere. He was the original Keeper, passing on the reins to Ingrid after he passed. It was hard to watch him go, as the cancer overtook him. For the last weeks, he did nothing but bleed from his mouth. Thanks to him, we are able to honor Mother. Kind of.

“That’s a good girl. Thank you, Cherry.”

I nodded in response, bowing at Father, before walking away. Annita followed me, yipping as we made our way to Camp. Ingrid acknowledged me with a demure nod as I passed her. She wore an ornate necklace, one that was found through scavenging when the Monsignor was still alive, that held a long-stopped pocket watch as its pendant. It was the Monsignor. It ran for the first few weeks following the Chernobyl incident, before the battery finally died. It was what helped him keep the time in the first days. Now, Ingrid wore it to simply mark herself as a special one. She could study sun patterns and tell you the approximate time of day, which made her invaluable, especially when it came down to times like the Solstices. These days, though, she seemed to be slipping up more and more. It made sense, given she was always awake when I woke up for my nightly leak. She had to be tired after being up half the night.

“Hey,” I called out before plopping myself down in front of her sundial.

“Hey yourself. Your shadow is fucking up my clock.”

That was all I needed before I was brushing myself off and moving away from Gritty. It was no matter; she was routinely not in the mood to fuck around. “Talk to you later, precious. Perhaps I’ll visit you on your nightly ‘stare at the sky’ session?”

“Fuck you,” came from behind me as I walked away. “Go concoct more lies.”

The last part came out quietly, as a small tease. My body froze up at first, with my back to her, but I could hear her chuckling in the annoying way she would. I flipped her off before turning into the tent that held our food. Dinner, it appeared, was served.

The small feast consisted of grains, including sunflower seeds, and bits of wild strawberry. For the group of ten people, it would barely make us feel full, but it was enough to satisfy the Itch. When your stomach lining is eaten away for so long, even a smidge of food does away with the Itch for a few. It would at least let us sleep until the Sun came up, flooding us with the blessings of Mother. Ingrid sat across from me, kicking at my shins when she caught me staring at her plate, which was empty but for a bit of juice stain from the strawberries.

“Perv,” she said with as much menace as love. Her smirk told me everything.

I rolled my eyes, playing with my ponytail, wrapping it around the ends of my finger. Perv. It rang over and over in my mind. So what? Was how I wanted to respond. I didn’t, though. My throat stopped me. My heart stopped me.

“Thank you for this blessed bounty, Mother Earth,” Father’s voice rang out.

“Thank you, Mother,” we whispered in a low baritone. Our heads were bowed over our empty plates.

“We worship you for saving us, Lover. Thank you for blessing us with eternal servitude to you. We will cleanse your Home, Wife,” Father continued with our heads dipping further towards our empty plates. There was a small clang as my glasses hit the edge of the ceramic. Gritty kicked at me again. I almost giggled.

This was my moment. I knew this. I had practiced this countless times. I raised my head to see the crown of Ingrid’s head, and I stopped for a minute. Her dark hair caught the last rays of the sun, and I was blinded. My voice cracked as I started us all in, singing, “Danke- Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen.”

“Thank you for all the joy you bring,” everyone started in on the second line, holding their hands out to each other.

Miss Fieri grabbed my hand. Her painted red nails scratched at my palm, and the old hole in the corner of her lip caught my eye as I faced her. Her face sagged, and her eyeliner was smudged. It was a miracle she had any. To my right, Monsignor Karl’s son, Vlad, sat though I had to reach out to wrap my palm around his amputated wrist. He smiled as he sang the lines, “Save those lies, darling, don’t explain.” It was strange to think about the fact that Mother blessed him with the stupid mustache the twinkled with as we sat there, singing. Yet, he was too stupid to become the next Keeper. That’s why we have Gritty.

Across from me, Gritty winked at me. She nodded at my hand on Vlad’s stump, and I knew what she was doing. Who’s the perv now? I thought. I relinquished my smile, giving her a disappointed nod. “Get your head out of the gutter,” I mouthed while Queenie fucked up the “Auf wiedersehen” despite the fact that her mother is from Germany. Dumbass. Gritty caught my look towards Queenie, smiling. She flipped her hair, impersonating the prima donna. I held in my laughter, smiling at her. I shook my head again, but this time in appreciation.

Then, I saw Father’s gaze. His eyes narrowed, brows furrowed so that the long spindly hairs were more apparent. His scar across his face was terrifying enough without the expression. I avoided looking him in the eye for a reason. My mouth formed a thin line in response. I bowed my head, and we finished the hymnal for Mother. We let go of each other’s hands to our lips, kissing our hands, and shooting the kisses towards the ground. Oppa and Kyle gave small whoops and hollers as the old woman and the young man hugged each other. I watched them closely, noting the miracle of their friendship.

“Thinking about the time you fucked him?”

“Fuck you, Gritty. It was four years ago.”

“We all know how formative that was for you.”

“You fucked him too. Shut up.”

“You know we’re supposed to fuck him again.”

“Yeah,” I whispered as we walked further from the tent. Oppa and Kyle went their separate ways, with the kind old woman heading to her tent, wrapped in her shawl she swears Stevie gave her. Kyle appeared to be more preoccupied with the new girl we picked up. Her name was Cola. Like the soda. She was his new toy. She was only fifteen, but she told Father she hadn’t lost her virginity yet. We were supposed to give her unto Mother soon because of that. I don’t know why she bothered to stay. I suppose the food alone is worth it, maybe the dogs. She’s only been here a week and she already found a little dachshund to be her companion. She’s taken to calling him Nilla. Gritty and I passed them, and I gave Nilla a little pat on the head as he came up to my ankles and pushed his nose against me.

“Do you think they’ll force us to do it when we hold the Ceremony for her?” I asked once we were out of earshot.

“Probably. Father is known for liking convenience,” She responded quietly. Her tone was melancholic.

We found our way out of the light of the camp fires. I scooped her hand into mine. “That’s true. It’s been too long since the last time.”

“I don’t know why we’re supposed to wait until the Solstice.”

“It’s because it’s spring. Fertility and all that shit.”

“Isn’t sex supposed to be sacred? What does the time period have to do with that?”

“I don’t know, man. Stop asking such stupid questions.” I let go of her hand, picking up a stick instead.

She folded her arms across her chest. “Just because you don’t want Mother’s babies doesn’t mean you gotta be a dick because I’m asking questions.”

“It’s not that, and you know it, Grit.”

“Then what is it, Cher?”

I rolled my eyes, facing away from her. “It’s easier to just do this shit than think about why it makes no sense.” It was as close of an answer I could give.

“Yeah, but doesn’t it kill you that Mother Earth says it’s just a sacred act but instead we treat it like this fucking parade that happens once a year. Sometimes twice, if Kyle doesn’t get his jizz in us.” Her head was cocked to the side as she studied me. We stopped at the edge of the woods like we always did. We knew no one could see us all the way out here. They just assumed we were playing in the woods, as we had since kids. Not questioning the basis of our existence. I threw the stick into the woods, hearing a small yelp from some animal. Probably a cat, from the sound. “I just…” I plopped on the ground next to a rock, resting my elbow against it. “It’s easier to not think about it instead of what we can’t do.”

“What is it that you want to do?”

“You know what I want to do,” I fire back.

Her mouth snapped shut. She came and sat down next to me. “You’re the only one stopping that from happening.”

“Existentialism doesn’t work when you live in a nuclear wasteland,” I responded as she put her head on my shoulder. “You’re looking for trouble,” I whisper as her hair tickles my ear.

“Maybe I am.” She shifted so her bicep rubbed mine. “Though, I suppose, you’re looking for it too.”

I stared out ahead of me, looking at the stars that peaked up from the line of mountains. The sun was sinking fast, so only a small blue line spread across the sky, and it only served to continue to illuminate the stars. They were twinkling, like the look in Ingrid’s eye or the way the last rays bounced off her pendant. I wanted to sink into the folds of her essence, even if that was the exact trouble she was getting me into. Her cheekbones were highlighted in the rising moonlight, eyes curled up in a smile. I flicked her black hair behind her shoulder, holding it close to my nose for a brief moment. Beauty incarnate.

“You’re right.” I sighed as I sat back to look her in the eye. “I don’t understand why things got so twisted around here, but they did. Perhaps Mother wants it that way. I can’t tell. She doesn’t speak to me. But you knew that, didn’t you?” I joked, tugging on the braid in her hair.

She smiled, poking my shoulder. “Yes. Perhaps She doesn’t exist at all, have you thought of that?”

My eyes widened, and I almost looked behind me to make sure no one heard her. “That’s not true, and you know it. Why else are we here?”

“Pure chance. Luck. Destiny.” She moved closer to me; her breath fanned over my face. “Have you considered why we’re here?”

I sat back, sitting upright. “No.”

“Maybe you should.”

“Mother exists. Nietzche was right, but Mother isn’t God.”

“I think Father killed her, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“The words have been twisted. The principles have been twisted. Shit, we worship the Earth because of some age old religion that ruled the before times. Wake up, Cherry.”

We weren’t close to each other anymore. We both sat upright, rod straight. Her dark, arched brows captured my attention and I stared at them as she stared at the plains of my face. “It’s not like you and I can do anything to change that. Father rules over us, protects us. At least we have food. At least we’re living in the meantime.”

“I don’t think we’re going to be here for long.”

“I-” I stuttered, stopping. “Grit, what are you on?”

Her eyes were serious. Their brown expanse was narrowed for the first time in a long time. They were hard, determined to be taken for reality. She looked practically possessed. Her dark eyes were almost black. She didn’t speak for a moment. “Ingrid, please, tell me.”

The lost, yet determined, look in her eyes faded and she grabbed my chin, pointing my head towards the sky. “You see all those stars?” I made a noise to affirm yes. “Do you see that green one? Over to the left of the moon?” I made another noise. “That’s a new star. I don’t believe it to be a star, though.”

She let go of me, though her hand held my face still. “Oh,” is all I said. The world came together like a puzzle piece at that moment. That was why she was being so careless as of late. That’s why we were here now.

“You’re going to kiss me before the world ends, right?” I asked in a petite voice that almost broke. It was the only thing I thought of as it occurred to me that my prediction would be coming true sooner than I thought.

It was then that she tucked her hands into the base of my ponytail, anchoring herself to me as she pulled me forward to touch her lips to mine. They tasted of cherry chapstick, something she must have collected when she went out exploring to the local abandoned gas station a few days ago. My tongue instinctively reached out for a better taste, and she let me in. It was then that my hands were all over here, and she kissed me harder.

A week passed, and the Ceremony was upon us. Cola was going to be the star of the show. She was dressed in a red bridesmaid dress we found on one of the group explorations we went on. It fit her perfectly, and coupled with the dandelions in her curly red hair, she was fit to be the Solstice Queen. Kyle was also dressed in his suit that he’d worn for the past two years. Ingrid sat in front of her sun dial, dressed in her normal pair of jeans and a t shirt with holes. She couldn’t be convinced to dress up. I, however, was in a new dress Father had given me. It was a wedding dress like Princess Di’s. It was found in a thrift store, and he had held onto it for this Solstice celebration. It was poofy, and I was forced to wear the headpiece with it. I looked like a sullen bride, with my stained face and ratty hair. Queenie dyed my lips red with leftover strawberry juice. Gritty told me I looked like a pig to slaughter. She was probably right.

“Cherry,” Father called out in his quiet tone. “Come ‘ere.”

I shuffled towards him, passing Kyle and Cola, who stood whispering and touching each other. “Yes, Father?”

The sun was high in the sky, forcing Father to cover his eyes. “Will you get Ingrid in her dress? I know you two are close.” When he saw the light leave my eyes, he continued, “We have to prepare for our Solstice Queen’s first Outing.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I’m sure you can persuade her,” he said with a smirk.

My heart levitated, escaping my ribcage. I looked across the field, over Father’s shoulder, and made eye contact with Gritty. She was looking straight at me with a similar expression to the other night when she revealed to me the nature of the future.

“Yes, Father.”

I passed by Ingrid, nudging her shoulder with mine as I grabbed onto her and forced her to follow me. “Get your fucking dress on,” I mumbled as I led her to her tent.

“He knows, doesn’t he?”

“Probably. He’s acting funny.”

“How would he know?”

“You don’t exactly hide it.”

“Neither do you. You drool in my presence.”

I glared at her. “Bitch.”

“It’s just the truth.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just get dressed. It’s almost twelve. We have to get this show on the road.”

“Wow jeez can’t wait.” Her voice was saccharine.

I didn’t respond. I just waited for her to get into her flowy gown. It was peach colored, and it made her look washed out. Her hair stood out, at least. I played with the ends of it after I helped zip her into the dress. “You look great,” I said in an aimless attempt at flirting.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

It was a miracle she was here. Ingrid had the magical way of being everything all at once. She made me want to relive the artifacts of the past, to dive into that sarcophagus. It hurt knowing that the world was taking that away. It had taken away so much. Mother had taken away so much. I suppose someone has to pay for the sins of the humans past, but I didn’t imagine it would be me. The visceral part of me, in my heart, felt the pain of this realization. I was the penance for disrespecting Mother. This was my service. This was why we did the Solstice Outings. This was why Kyle, Father, and Vlad and the rest of them could fuck whoever whenever. It was why they called it fucking for them instead of an Outing for us. It felt wrong to call what me and Gritty did fucking. It wasn’t that. It was something sweeter, less one-sided. Then again, what we did is the sin that brought us to this aftermath in the first place.

“Is this the price we pay?” I asked as I braided her hair. “Forever damned to a lack of pleasure and to death?”

“I suppose.” She sighed, looking disjointed though connected to what I was saying. “It doesn’t have to be like this. We choose it to be.”

“There you go with existentialism again.”

“It’s not philosophy, my dear. It’s how things are.”

“I didn’t ask to be left to this world. To be forced into this stupid shit.”

“No, you didn’t. But you worship the people, the men, who made it this way.”

“So do you.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

I let go of her last braid, letting it come undone. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

“What does being free mean to you, Cherry?”

“What are you? A cheesy sitcom? Let’s go.”

I walked out of the tent without looking back. Whatever. Whatever. Whatever.

The Ceremony lacked the pomp and circumstance that many of past Ceremonies would have had. There weren’t many flowers we cultivated beyond weeds. We made a bed out of hay, grass, and these pesky flowers. Ingrid and I held onto Cola as we walked her into the circle of people, which consisted of our tribe. Father stood at the head of the pack, with Kyle standing next to him and Oppa on the other side. She was the eldest in our bunch, so she got to be on his right hand side while Kyle stood on the left. Everyone hummed the Hymnal, while sometimes people sang a few of the words.

Danke shoen, darling. Danke schoen...

I wore the veil in front of my face while Gritty and Cola bowed their heads. Cola was only fifteen, from the looks of her, and I felt a pang in my heart as I remembered that Kyle was two years older than me. He was twenty. The difference sat in the pit of my stomach, sickening me, as Cola smiled so sweetly at him. We were by the bed of flowers now. The humming had stopped. She was pure, still. She was worth worshipping. That would change once this was over. She’d be expected to work the fields, collect things. She’d become withered and worn like the rest of us. She was no stranger to hard work, I knew that. She had survived for this long on her own when her mother died a few months ago. Her innocence was simply so palatable in this moment. Though, perhaps that was the problem. I boiled her down to this ball of naivety when she probably had seen more shit in her lifetime than I had. She was nomadic, built with “street smarts” as they used to call it. She was human. That was why the disgust laid heavy on me.

Father put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. He smiled in his robes, which were really just shawls we found and blessed him with. He stood with a glint in his eye as he spoke.  “Thank you, everyone. Mother Earth has blessed us with a new addition, and may we bless her unto the Earth and manifest Her bounty.”

We nodded, some people making a few grunts in affirmation. Gritty stood stoic, unwilling to do anything more than bow her head. I saw out of the corner of my eye a droplet fall from her face to the floor.

“Cola, darling, step away from your sisters and lay yourself upon our Mother.”

The human stepped forward, kneeling before Father, reaching up to touch the top of his toes from a praying position, before she moved to lay on her chest. From there, Kyle stepped forward, bowing to Father, and then he bent down to unzip Cola’s dress. The red peeled back to reveal white. It was like reverse bleeding. Instead of finding the depth of a person, we were finding the outer shell. Perhaps that was how one got through this.

From there, she was stripped. The dress fell from her chest, revealing her budding breasts, before Kyle pulled it down and off of her, revealing her naked body to the rest of us. He touched her breasts, cupping them roughly, before biting at them. She laid there still, waiting for it to be over. Or at least that’s what I presumed. She didn’t act enthused. That wasn’t her job. Her job was to be there, to pleasure him. Everyone started humming, though not the Hymnal. A different song.

I made it through the wilderness,

Somehow I made it through.

Thankfully, we didn’t sing the lyrics. We hummed. We hummed louder when she started to groan in pain. We hummed even louder when he covered her mouth. We hummed louder still when he finished. We stopped when she sat up. She covered herself again, walking to join us again. She had given herself unto the Earth.

“She gave herself unto him,” Gritty whispered.

I didn’t respond. The sun shined in my eyes, blinding me, as we walked away. Kyle wouldn’t be ready again for another five hours or so, leaving us to tend to Cola before it was my turn. Then, we would turn in for the night before it was Ingrid’s turn in the morning.

It was strange, having an appointment for something like this. It made it better, I suppose, than being shocked by it. Cola wiped at her eyes as we went to Ingrid’s tent. I offered her a shoulder, wrapping an arm around her as we all piled onto Gritty’s cot.

When the sun started to set, we were woken from our nap. Father stood at the opening of the tent. His hands rested on his hips, making dual triangles. His face read of disappointment.

“You silly girls,” he said with a jovial smile, the disappointment fading. “You know it’s inappropriate to sleep together.”

“Sorry, Father,” I started as Cola started to wake up next to me.

“Shut up,” his voice came out hard. He softened as he said, “Just don’t do it again, okay?” though he looked to Cola, not me.

“Sorry, Father,” she said quietly.

“Good girl,” he said back before walking away.

Funny how easy it is to become a pet if you let yourself. Though that was what Gritty was talking about. I chose not to judge Cola because of this.

We got up, picking at each other to make each other primed for another Outing. Gritty fixed my hair, sneaking a small kiss on the cheek before the tent door opened and Oppa came in.

“Let’s go, girls. There’s a shooting comet we see coming our way across the sky. We want to watch it when the sun goes down.”

Gritty and I looked towards each other, and she smiled. My Outing was on a schedule. My life was on a schedule. We knew what this meant. I looked Oppa in the eye. “I’m coming!” It came out happy, bright. It was filled with the last squeeze of life from my lemon.

I left the tent in a flourish. This was it. This was the end. I felt the joy buried beneath me come undone. The string has been cut! I am free. I walk quickly, with Cola and Gritty on either side of me.

“You’ve never looked so excited to be fucked like a stuffed pig,” She teased me quietly.

I looked over to her as we walked to the tune of the Hymnal. “It doesn't have to be like this, remember?” I smiled wide, aware that I looked a little unhinged.

“Yes, you’re right,” she whispered before I stepped away and kneeled down. I didn’t bother to touch the toes of Father before I laid down. In fact, I reached behind me and started to work my zipper down. Kyle murmured, “I got it,” but I didn’t listen to him. His hand stood close to mine as the zipper was worked down. The fabric billowed around me, squishy as I worked my way out of it.

“Cherry, this isn’t how the Outing goes,” he whispered quietly as Father stared down at us.

I didn’t respond. I finished my way out of the dress. I stood up, stepped out of it, and looked Gritty in the eyes. I was naked. Exposed. The stars were looking upon me, as was everyone else. I chose this. It was then that a hand pushed me down, hard, onto my knees. I saw Gritty freeze up, and Cola held onto her harder.

“Cherry,” Father’s voice came out cold. “This is not how the Outing is done.” He pushed me back onto the bed of growth. “Have your way, Kyle,” he said as I laid there, spread out like a plate of hors de o’deauvrs. The circle began to sing.

My fear is fading fast

Been saving it all for you

He bit me, ate my skin, before he fucked me. It was a blip in time. I looked towards the green star, the thing that was coming to destroy us. It was beautiful. I saw life in it. I saw the beauty in all things. I forgot that there was a boy fucking me, brutalizing me, making me his meal. His object. I didn’t care. I wasn’t his. I was this star’s. I was death impending. I was free.

When he was done, I didn’t wait. I plopped upright and walked away naked, forgetting the stupid costume. I wrapped an arm around Gritty’s waist before taking her hand and running off into the night. My bare feet pounded across the wasteland’s floor. The star was coming closer. It would be here soon. I knew this chapter was coming to a close. I was going to end it with her.

We made our way to the edge of the forest.

“Can I unzip you?” I asked Ingrid.

She nodded, smiling, as she turned around and pulled her elegant hair towards her front. It twinkled and wrinkled down her breasts. She was elegance, the form of death that I least expected. I pulled her close and kissed her, enveloping myself in her the way I needed to a week ago. I heard the sounds from the camp as the sun disappeared but the star came closer and illuminated the expanse of earth. I paid them no mind as I danced with Ingrid. Eventually, we became dizzy and fell.

Her hand laid on my bicep, and mine on hers. We stared up to the sky as we had a week ago when we kissed for the first time. The green of the meteor shooting towards us blinded me, but I kept my eyes open. I started to sing quietly as Ingrid’s fingers played at my skin, touching me. “Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen. Thank you for walks down Lover's Lane.”

My voice was awkward, and I didn’t sing in tune. Ingrid rolled into me all the same, shielding herself from the green glow. I wrapped her hair around my finger. This was death. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. She was who I wanted to die with.

“This is what free means to me,” I whispered as she continued to hum the song, taking it for her own.

I could see the details of the rock now. The edges were curved, like the indents of her body. My heart left its cage. It floated above me, blocking out the death rock. This was what was coming to claim me. It sung the song of my soul, repeating back to me the song I had just been singing. It was mine. This was my choice.

The green became more intense. She wrapped herself closer to me. My heart sung louder. This was it. Whatever. Whatever. Whatever.

[xenoredux]

The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 1: The Birth

Alright, first part of the GNG rewrite aaaaayyy! As with the last rewrite, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each. 

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Firearms, various kinds of physical trauma, injuries to people and animals, the deaths of people and animals, search and rescue missions, self harm, animal and child abuse, and just a whole lotta spilled blood. Basically if any form of violence upsets you, it’d be a good idea not to read ahead

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

THIS ALSO MARKS THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANIME SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY GNG LMAO enjoy

In the year 198somethingidk in the forests of Japan, a white Akita Inu named Shiro ("white") is tailing behind an unusually large Ussuri brown bear dubbed "Akakabuto" ( "red helmet") by the nearby village's populace due to the unusual red tuft of fur trailing down his back. Shiro is followed by his owner, a crotchety old fart named Gohei Takeda, renowned bear hunter and the world's least called out animal abuser (hint: this will become relevant later.)

Before the old man can take aim with his rifle, however, the shadowy mass from the winter darkness barrels towards him. As the dog tries to leap to his owner's defense, Akakabuto smacks off a good portion of Grandpa Point-n-Shooty's face, sending a severed human ear flying into a bloodied patch of snow. Shiro takes this as an invitation to do his best impersonation of Lassie and dives at the monstrous beast, grasping hard atop his muzzle to avoid his claws. From a nearby hill, a small red puppy watches the horror unfold.

While Shiro baits the bear, as is his job as a bear-dog, Gohei fires a bullet into the massive animal's right eye. The eyeball bursts in the bear's skull, but it also stops the bullet from traveling through his brain, instead lodging it into his grey matter and jostling around his nerve centers and pituitary gland. Understandably pissed at Gohei taking the shot, Akakabuto swipes madly at him until both himself and the dog stumble blindly off the edge of a cliff, resulting in what is surmised to be their deaths. Gohei faints in a snowbank, his vision running red with blood, as the unseen red puppy runs back to civilization to bring help.

Five years pass. Gohei continues to raise, train, and hunt with Akitas, but now it's for more then the sake of bringing home bear skins. He believes Akakabuto is still alive, and he wants revenge. The massive scar on the left side of his face is explanation enough for anyone to understand why. He continues to explore the forest near his home, now aided by several new dogs, including one of Shiro's sons, a powerful red Akita named Riki ("power" or "strength") and the same puppy who had saved Gohei's life all those years ago.

Riki has comfortably begun filling his father's shoes, enough so that he's established a reputation as one of the best bear-dogs in Japan. With a title like that, it wasn't long before Riki had been mated to an equally powerful and very pretty red brindle Akita named Fuji, and the buns he'd so kindly plopped into her oven were fit to enter the bakery of life and this analogy sucks

Fuji is not Gohei's dog. She belongs to the Fujiwaras, a neighboring nuclear family who own and operate a ski resort in the mountains. Daisuke Fujiwara, a young boy with a heart of gold and a nose of snot, has been tending to his dog during her pregnancy, and she's finally delivered what is universally understood as The Best Thing Ever: a litter of roly poly puppies! Daisuke is especially taken with the smallest of the babies, a handsome silver brindle boy, because Daisuke is a stuck up dog fancier who believes silver brindles, or Tora-Ges ("tiger striped") make the best hunting dogs. He ever-so-creatively dubs the puppy Gin ("silver") and decides the infant will do him proud someday.

But all is not well in Skiiertown. Gohei's hunt of Akakabuto isn't just motivated by vengeance. The village mayor is currently trailing behind Gohei and his dogs, discussing how the town needs money from tourists and that Akakabuto's alleged presence would surely make some of them go "yeah, no" and leave. Gohei doesn't care about the economy, but he does care that a man named Genji from the neighboring town has been mauled under """mysterious""" circumstances.

As the two oldies argue about which is more important, money or human lives, Riki scents and points out the mutilated remains of two wayward tourists, a young man and his girlfriend. He also runs defensively to Gohei's side, snarling wildly. Everyone looks around, confused. Suddenly, a flash of black and red drops from the tree branches above onto the men and dogs. As the men's screams and dogs' cries fill the air, so does a fountain of their blood.

Soon after, forest rangers in helicopters are dispatched to locate and rescue the missing persons and - if they can manage it, no pressure at all - kill the illusive demon bear before he slaughters more innocents. Daisuke watches the helicopters pass overhead and leaps onto his snowmobile, incapable of not getting involved in anything.

He makes a beeline for Gohei's now abandoned camping tent. Finding it empty, he's about to drive off elsewhere when paramedics emerge from the wall of trees beside him. The mayor, bloodied and broken, is being carried on a stretcher. Daisuke runs up to him and asks what happened to Gohei and Riki, to which he's met with a simple "Akakabuto" as the man slips from consciousness.

Daisuke rushes back home to break the news to Fuji and her puppies about what happened to their doghusband and dogdad. Daisuke holds Gin close and insists Riki can't die until he's seen his shiny Pokemon of a son, to which Gin, being literally like a day old, merely whimpers and wiggles. Gazing misty eyed at the puppy, Daisuke changes his mind. Gohei can't be dead. Riki can't be dead. No mere bear could kill a man like Gohei or a dog like Riki.

Ten days pass. Neither Riki nor Gohei's bodies have been found, but the bodies of Gohei's other dogs, Riki's eldest son Aka ("red") and friend Don, have been located by lodge personnel. The animals were mauled so severely that everyone begins giving up the ghost on this whole "finding Gohei alive" business. Besides that, the cacophanic cries from Akakabuto have frightened everyone into leaving the forest, afraid of becoming the next victims. The bear is greatly distressed - his brain damage leaves him unable to rest for more then an hour at a time, let alone hibernate, and being awake during winter is disorienting him. He runs madly around the forest, roaring and swinging his massive claws at anything that moves and also most things that don't.

While the bear plods around wreaking havoc in the night, Daisuke is dreaming. He dreams of the old man and his dog languishing somewhere in the woods, starving to skeletal husks. He dreams that Gohei, in an act of desperation, raises his gun barrel to Riki's head. The old coot, overcome with hunger pangs and a desperation to survive, murmurs an apology to his dog, explaining a dude's gotta eat. He fires off a shot in Riki's skull, killing his closest companion, before tearing savagely into the dog's flesh with his bear hands. And I do mean bear hands, as Gohei begins to turn into Akakabuto, ripping the dog's flesh, then the Earth itself to pieces.

Daisuke awakens beside a sleeping Fuji a moment later. He's absolutely covered in sweat. He laments on how fucked up his dream was as he reaches out and caresses first Fuji, then Riki's puppies, praying that at least the first half of his dream, the half in which Gohei and Riki are still alive, is true.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Daisuke's subconscious, Gohei and Riki are in fact still alive! The two managed to struggle into a ravine just out of the bear's reach, and they've been holed up ever since. Riki's back has been shredded badly, and Gohei's right leg has been broken, mauled, and rendered useless. Gohei has begun to get sick of sitting on his ass incapable of doing anything, and with an ominous glint in his eye, raises the hatchet he had been carrying in his pack above Riki's head, murmuring something about home cooking...

In a twisted, eerie parallel to Daisuke's dream, the old man brings the weapon down, but not on the petrified dog in his lap. Instead, he's sliced through his own injured leg! Having severed the useless limb from the knee down, Gohei demands Riki eat his flesh, regain his energy, and seek help at the village just as he did when he was a youngster. Riki is understandably not for this, and his resistance in the form of wailing and vomiting is loud enough to catch the attention of the red helmeted hellspawn himself. In an effort to protect his even-more-fucked-up-now owner, Riki does indeed gather the last of his energy to throw himself at the bear.

Daisuke's dad begins leading a patrol back into the forest, saying that even if they're dead, Gohei and his dog's bodies can't be left to stink up the woods. Daisuke cuddles a quickly growing Gin as he asks to go, but he's told to stay home with the puppies. After all, Fuji is coming with the crew to find her doghusband and his owner's corpses.

Diasuke pouts for the 5 minutes it takes the men to be entirely out of sight before shoving Gin into his coat and plopping himself into the seat of his snowmobile, once again refusing to be left out of the excitement. Meanwhile, Riki continues his dual with Akakabuto, experiencing the slicing and dicing of a lifetime at the hands of the fiend.

The battle between bear and dog rages on, and fresh blood from both animals spatters the fresh fallen snow. Daisuke, having vroomed on over, catches sight of this historic event from atop a hill, and without a second thought begins driving down towards the bear. He tells Gin to have a look at his father, and once Gin realizes that his dad isn't the big red bear, he's awed at his old man's strength and resilience. This thought is interrupted by Daisuke screaming a one liner and driving over an incline, sending the snowmobile flying right into the bear's face. Daisuke and Gin both bail from the vehicle, and Gin tumbles out of Daisuke's jacket.

Akakabuto appropriately gathers his bearings before lunging at Daisuke, pissed off that a child has bitchslapped him with a small car. Diasuke screams for help as a bloodied, super manly arm yoinks him quickly into the ravine. It's (obviously) Gohei! He's (as we've established) still alive, and frankly very surprised to see Daisuke here! But Riki's still in unsafe territory outside, as is...

Gin! The puppy has tumbled into the bear's path, and he's too slow and uncoordinated to run to safety. Thankfully, Riki has already thrown himself at Akakabuto to save the little lad he's only just met. Daisuke and Gohei watch helplessly as the dual continues, as does a spellbound Gin.

Riki manages to break away from Akakabuto and snag up his son, but the lack of food and the constant stress on his body have taken everything out of him, and he collapses to the forest floor, Gin clutched in his teeth. Daisuke and Gohei call out to him, encourage him to come just a bit further, begging him to save himself and his son, but he just can't do it, even with the knowledge of the puppy's lineage in mind.

In a final heroic act, Riki works every muscle he's got one last time to leap forward just enough so he can yeet his son into the ravine. His effort works, and Gin finds himself safely landing in Daisuke's trembling arms, but it's too late for Riki. As the dog gazes helplessly at his master, his friend, and his child, Akakabuto delivers a final blow to his side. The red bear sends the red dog tumbling off a nearby cliff, and Riki disappears into the black snowy depths below, followed by a trail of blood and Gohei's cries of anguish.

Pissed beyond words, Gohei drags himself out of the ravine, hatchet clenched in his fist. He's just about to tell Akakabuto to 1v1 him scrub, but then everyone hears something. It's the search party come to call, all armed with guns and thermoses of hot cocoa. Akakabuto takes one look at all those shiny boom sticks and high tails it, leaving a madly wailing Gohei behind.

Daisuke emerges from the hole with Gin in his arms, much to his own father's surprise. As the men gather to take the boy, puppy, and old man to safety, Gohei drags himself to the cliffside and weeps openly for the loss of his beloved dog and closest friend.

In a short while, Gohei finds himself on a stretcher all his own. He congratulates Fuji on her litter and Daisuke on his silver brindle puppy, assuring him that Gin will make a fine bear-dog someday. Diasuke is understandably feeling glum as Gohei is carted off to hospital, but he's emboldened by the old man's words, as is his puppy. Gin is too young to speak or even truly understand what's happened, but he knows something lifechanging has taken place.

Several weeks pass. Gin and his siblings grow larger, large enough for Daisuke to initiate training them for their futures as hunting dogs. The boy has masterminded only the most exhausting, trying test of ability for the young animals today: cross a snowy field to get to him. While his siblings flop through the ice like suffocating fish, Gin's intuitive sense of laziness takes him onto the clean-driven road, where he easily makes his way into Daisuke's admiring arms. Daisuke decides that Gin is a veritable puppy prodigy, and he refuses to ever let him go.

Before he can heap more praise onto the puppy, here comes Shinji, one of Diasuke's classmates and closest non-canine friend. Shinji comes bearing news: Gohei has left the hospital at long last. Not because the doctor cleared him to, but because the impatient inpatient insisted he couldn't wait around with his thumb up his ass (or up the wound in his leg) any longer. Akakabuto has only continued to terrorize and traumatize the village folk and their visitors.

This doesn't surprise Daisuke, who is, at anything, glad that someone still has the gumption to do something about That Asshole In The Woods. Gumption doesn't benefit everyone, insists Shinji. Given Gin's a silver brindle and demonstrably the most protagonist-y out of the whole litter, Gohei will surely come to take him someday. He's Riki's son, after all, and now that Riki is gone, someone will have to fill his pawprints.

Daisuke is preemptively heartbroken, remembering back to the first time he saw the elderly man come back into town with his dogs. Gohei had taken a blunt stick and smacked Don around with it for some unknown insolence that transpired during their last hunt. The memory sends Daisuke's stomach and emotions reeling, and he clings to Gin.

Or perhaps his heartbreak was not so preemptive, because Gohei began chugging along towards the ski lodge the moment he left the hospital parking lot. The old man barges in on the boys' conversation and snags Gin up by the scruff of his little neck. Diasuke's dad notices the commotion and busts into it, telling Gohei the doctor demanded he get 6 months more bedrest. Gohei ignores him, instead striking Gin across the face for no reason but to test how pussy the puppy is. This only causes Gin to begin chewing in anger on the old man's fingers, to which the weirdass only grins.

Daisuke isn't happy about his dog being slapped out of nowhere, but Gohei insists it proves Gin's got a fighting spirit, an inherent gameness. Not like those worthless siblings of his, who Gohei proves aren't worthy of being mentioned outside of the first arc ever again by bopping them both in the face as well. To a chorus of squealing, crying puppies, Gohei leaves, carrying Gin away.

As Daisuke cries after Gohei not to kill the dog, the old man carries the puppy out of sight. Gohei takes the puplet to his cabin, showcasing his collection of bear skulls and animal hides. He leans back from his crutches and informs Gin that he'll be trained in much the same way his father was.

Gin doesn't understand what this means until Gohei picks up a stick and starts beating the everloving shit out of him. Daisuke seems to have had a hunch this would happen, because he's followed Gohei home, and the moment he sees what he's doing to Gin, he's even more pissed then the last time he lost a game of Fortnite.

Diasuke can't keep himself from whining about "animal abuse" and how "it's not good to beat infants" and other special snowflakery, to which Gohei responds by deadass picking up his rifle. He reaches down towards the battered Gin, lifts him up beside the barrel, and fires off a shot into an ancient bear skull on one of his shelves, shattering it to splinters. The gun is so GODDAMN LOUD that Daisuke falls back from the noise, and yet the tiny Gin doesn't even flinch. He seems more mystified by the gun then scared of it, a level of comfort that Gohei remarks Riki took a year of training to achieve.

Gohei says that Daisuke can leave whenever he'd like, because this dog is too suited for the job for him to ever surrender him. Daisuke unhappily ceases arguing, but he insists on staying and watching Gin train, to which Gohei just shrugs dismissively.

The next morning, Daisuke awakens in Gohei's cabin to the sound of Gin's whimpering. He rushes outside to find Gohei trying to forcefeed Gin bear flesh, a strong smelling meat with the world's most uninviting texture. When Daisuke tries to interfere, Gohei punches the 10 year old squarely in the jaw, making it ludicrously hard for the audience to appreciate his presence. Gohei insists he's doing this to get Gin acquainted with the enemy's scent and prove to him his will to live, but all Daisuke hears is "wah wah wah me like torture children".

At suppertime that day, Gohei offers Daisuke some of the soup he's made. Daisuke says he refuses to eat until Gin does. Gin has yet to have eaten any bear meat, and Gohei refuses to back down and feed him anything else. Instead, Gohei supplements Daisuke's meal for a story about a dog he owned long before Gin was born.

The dog was a Tosa Inu named Rikiou ("king of power"), and he never knew fear, common sense, or self preservation. The first bear he ever encountered was too big for him to fight off, and, unwilling to back down for even a moment, it killed him. His head was crushed like a grape. Daisuke wavers on what this story means, but he assumes it means that if Gin wants to survive, he'll take the most logical route to do so, and that his aversion to bear meat will likely grant him more respect for bears' power in future. Gohei had no moral in mind tbh. He just likes rambling about his dogs (okay relatable)

The next morning, Daisuke decides he's done watching his puppy's samurai-training and goes home. He's back only long enough to greet his parents when everyone hears a scratching at the window. It's Gin! He followed Daisuke back home! Daisuke takes this as a sign that Gin would rather live with him then with Gohei, but he doesn't receive a chance to make this so.

Gohei comes up from behind the puppy and gives him a swift bop in the side with one of his crutches. He then snags a rope around the little pooch's neck. Gin wails miserably as the old timer takes him back to his cabin for another day of bruising and starving.

Three days later, Daisuke comes to call on Gohei once again, mostly to make sure Gin isn't dead yet. Gin isn't dead, but he IS super weak. Gohei states that the little bugger has stubbornly refused bear flesh for the past few days, which means he's had nothing to eat in nearly a week. Daisuke is at the end of his rope with this insolent boomer and starts kicking and stomping the bear meat around the room.

He straight up tells Gohei to fight him if he doesn't like it when he notices the old man looking past him towards Gin. When Daisuke turns, he realizes that Gin is finally, FINALLY eating! Now that the bear meat's been stomped on, it's soft enough for the little dude to sink his baby teeth into.

Several months pass. One day, Diasuke and Shinji are piddlefarting around town. The two become enraptured with the guns inside a weapons shop. Daisuke thinks out loud about how Akakabuto could easily be defeated if the guy who went after him had a rifle as powerful as these. His train of thought is interrupted by a man and his dog, a German Shepherd, entering the store. The man orders his dog to wait outside, and the animal follows his command with no hesitation.

The boys go to have a better look at the pooch, a young, handsome dog in a brown collar. The dog gazes boredly at the two. Shinji is impressed with the dog's obedience, but since he's neither an Akita nor a brindle, Daisuke couldn't care less.

Tired of gawking at a stranger's dog, the two head back to Gohei's place to peep what Gin's up to. "He's up to eating," Gohei basically says. But what he actually meant was "he's up to learning how to swim without breathing so he can eat the bear meat I've put at the bottom of a water basin". Which, by the way, is what Gin's doing. In fact, Gin will continue doing this exercise of his twice a day every day for several weeks, growing in muscle mass and understanding of how to not die via water inhalation.

In the meantime, Gohei sorta zones out while hovering over Gin's personal swimming pool. He mutters something about Riki training just like this to the boys, to which Shinji politely excuses himself and runs home. God forbid he stay behind to hear an old man ramble.

Daisuke, on the other hand, is a nerd who is intrigued by the knowledge Gohei possesses. He asks what it was like hunting with Riki, to which Gohei chuffs and turns away. He doesn't go into detail about his dog - he's still in mourning - but he does detail what it's like to hunt bears. It's all math and muscle memory, he says, much to Daisuke's disbelief.

Gohei asserts that the simplest way to kill a bear is to abide by The Centre Line Rule, a theory among bear hunters that states that all of a bear's weakest points are down the middle of its body when it's standing erect. Fire a shot off into a bear's chest or gut or forehead from dead center, and you'll learn why it's called "dead" center. Daisuke doesn't know if he believes the boomer, but he rolls the idea around in his head as he watches Gin collect his soggy rations.

After a bit of time passes, Gohei comes to visit Daisuke. He brings little Gin along with him. At first, Gin's siblings are very happy to see him. They rush towards him to play, cheering about how their brother has returned, and he instantly kicks their asses. Gin's siblings are no longer very happy to see him. They run to their mother's side for comfort as Gin comes to a heel at Gohei's leg in an insanely powerful flex on momma's boys everywhere.

Daisuke asks the old hunter what he's doing poking around these here parts, and after scolding him for speaking like a cowboy, Gohei invites him along to watch Gin's first hunting trip. Obviously since something's happening, Daisuke MUST be included.

The three head out to a river gorge nearby to blast some ducks outta the sky. Gohei is taking his sweetass time with aiming and firing, which is very uncharacteristic of him. It soon becomes obvious why, though. As soon as he manages to snipe a bird outta the air, he allows it to fall into the ravine below before commanding Gin to go in after it.

Gin is still too full of vim and vigor to be afraid, so he leaps into the foaming snake of water below, his basin training finally showing some use. From somewhere nearby, a man's voice can be heard barking commands in English, which I cannot transcribe here because I don't speak English.

As Gin braves the rapids, a familiar silhouette also comes down into the gorge. It's another dog, and Daisuke recognizes it! It's the pompous German Shepherd from the weapons shop, and before you can learn how to properly pronounce "nagareboshi", he's snagged Gin's bird up and started making off with it!

Daisuke shouts obscenities at the thieving bastard as Gin follows behind him. For the first time, Gin begins to speak to another dog, though all the humans hear is adorable yipping. Gin tells the dog to let go of his master's kill. The dog makes like he's going to say something sarcastic back, but his mouth is too full to speak.

Instead, the dog continues to bolt, finishing his sprint by climbing to the top of the cliffside and leaping to the other side of the ravine. Little Gin tries to follow suit, but his anime protag powers haven't truly kicked in yet, and instead he ends up missing the mark and tumbling back down into the water below. The shepherd snorts in smug amusement before scampering away.

Gin, Gohei, and Daisuke pack up and start heading home. Gohei is visibly annoyed at the loss of the kill. Even Gin looks forlorn about it. Just as Daisuke begins trying to soothe the two of them, a Jeep drives past. Sitting proudly in the backseat is a dog - the German Shepherd from before! Daisuke and Gin both call out to the thief to return their kill, and the man driving the Jeep stops and gets out to meet them.

Daisuke recognizes the man from the gun shop, but only Gohei knows his name. The young man is called Hidetoshi Sekiguchi, and he's the son of the village mayor, the man who was attacked by Akakabuto alongside Gohei.

Hidetoshi apologizes for the inconvenience regarding the bird, but assures them that it was his kill all along. He tosses the bird's carcass to Daisuke to prove it. The bird's head is missing, clearly having been blasted off its feathery shoulders by the force of a bullet. That bullet came from the shiny, new, powerful-looking rifle Hidetoshi had just purchased.

The young man is a doctor by trade but a hunter at heart, and he's come all the way back from the UK with this new gun and his faithful hunting dog John to kill the bear that mauled his father. Gohei tries to tell Hidetoshi that all the fancy equipment and stuck up canines in the world aren't enough to kill that bear, to which Hidetoshi just patronizingly grins and drives away.

As Hidetoshi and John drive out of sight, Daisuke and Gohei begin heading home. Gin trails a little behind, both spellbound by John's achievement and poise as well as frustrated by his stolen victory. He swears to himself that if he ever sees the GSD again, he won't lose to him once more. He scrunches up his little baby face in determination before following behind the others.

A couple more weeks pass generally uneventfully. Gin continues his training and keeps growing rapidly. Daisuke has tried to keep himself involved in Gin's upbringing, but he's been cooped up inside for a few days now. A blizzard combined with the constant looming threat of Akakabuto makes his parents uncomfy with letting him lollygag around in the woods. So tonight he's chillin' inside with his folks when suddenly they hear an erratic banging at the door. Fuji gets up and snarls, looking more scared then aggressive.

Suddenly, the door flies open and its glass windows, frosted from the cold, shatter. A man tumbles headlong into the living room. A large, bloody gash on the side of his head oozes all over the new rug, horrifying the family for both altruistic and materialistic reasons. Daisuke's father runs to the man's side, trying to keep him awake, while his mother runs to call an ambulance.

The man begins gibbering through bloodied teeth about a monster with a red mane and how his friends and son are still in danger. Daisuke's dad sends his son off to retrieve Gohei, which Daisuke does without skipping a beat because oh my god something he can be involved in, SCORE.

Treading through the snow on his shiny new prosthetic leg, Gohei allows Gin to lead he and Daisuke back to the man. Gohei recognizes him immediately - he's an old hunting buddy, a renowned bear hunter named Shigematsu. Gohei catches the attention of the languishing lad just long enough to see recognition in his eyes before Shigematsu succumbs to his injuries, dying on Daisuke's floor.

Gohei knows he can't stand idly by while Shigematsu's crew are at risk, so he gathers his rifle and his dog and heads out the door. As they leave, Gin looks over his shoulder for an instant at his mother. Fuji gazes longingly at her son as he exits the house. Daisuke and his father follow behind Gohei and head off to gather the same dudes who have been wandering around in the forest looking for bear attack victims for the past several months at this point.

As the group enters the woods, they come across an unexpected sight. It's Hidetoshi and John. Word spread quickly through the village about the man dying from a bear attack, and Hidetoshi wants a chance to fire a few bullets into Akakabuto's ass to make up for his suffering. He joins the men in their hike to Shigematsu's cabin, much to Gin's dismay. Gin still isn't very fond of the callous asshole of a shepherd he's forced to walk beside. John sneers at him, fully aware of how bothersome his presence is.

Meanwhile at Shigematsu's cabin, his remaining friends are trembling and sweating, guns in hand. They know the bear is lurking just outside the cabin somewhere, having a merry little picnic of any men who tried to escape. They inch against the wall only to find it crumbling behind them. A gigantic bear with a red trail of fur down its back roars and swings its mighty paws at the men, shattering their skulls upon impact. Their screams ring through the winter air, entangling with the buzzing of the wind.

By the time the group reaches the cabin, the bear is wandering outside. Gin takes one look at it and leaps into action, ready to be the bear-hound he was meant to be, before tumbling into a snowdrift he can't wiggle out of. John makes fun of the stoopid newb xDDD before using his longer, less silly legs to bumrush the big boogieman of a bear. He snarls and snaps at the predator's face, swiftly dodging his swaying claws.

Gin finally manages to free himself from his strongest enemy yet, the snow, and follows John's example. Only he uses a different source of inspiration for his moves: the memory of his father clinging desperately to the upper side of the bear's snout.

It's already been seen that Gin isn't very agile yet, and the bear takes full advantage of this by smacking him away as if batting at a silver striped fly, sending the puppy squealing into the snow, embarrassed but otherwise unharmed. Daisuke rushes to make sure Gin is alright. The men all open fire on the bear, but the fierce blizzard winds prevent them from getting a good hit on him.

The bear makes a break for it only to be distracted by John. Hidetoshi takes aim while his pet busies the big boy and fires his rifle off square in the animal's chest. The unsteady teddy stumbles with a wail of pain, rolling back into the snow.

As the bear tries to get up once again, Hidetoshi lets loose another bullet into the animal's left eye, finally sending it to bear hell where it belongs. In a moment of catharsis, he lets fly a few more bullets into the dead animal's skull, images of his father's mauled corpse dancing in traumatic fashion around his head. Everyone is still for a moment.

Hidetoshi is about to say something about honor and family or whatever when Gohei interrupts the celebration by pointing out that this animal cannot be Akakabuto. Buty Boy has no right eye, whereas this unlucky fucker had two before getting blown away. Everyone gapes. The striking resemblance the animal has to Akakabuto can only mean one thing: the tyrant has been getting laid, passing his powerful and dangerous genes onto a new generation. A feeling of intense terror spreads through the crowd, and about 50 feet away, a single, glassy eye shimmers in the darkness.

The dogs are shaken from their own stupor by the scent of something wicked this way coming. John and Gin snarl at the large black mass watching the crowd, and the men look to see the forest's resident bastard glaring at them. Akakabuto stares spitefully at the men, taking in all of their scents and faces. His gaze also falls first on the German Shepherd, then on the little silver ball of fur beside it. He can't pinpoint why, but the upstart (pupstart?) looks and smells incredibly familiar.

Furious at the sight of his father's murderer, Gin tries to run towards the hulking mountain of bear. Daisuke snags him up before he can run very far, though, and he settles with barking obscenities at the enemy instead.

Again everyone fires, but it's too late. Akakabuto is wicked fast and not nearly as dumb as his offspring, so he's already gotten the hell outta dodge. Hidetoshi swears out loud, blueballed by fate once again. Gohei tells everyone they'd best go home. Nobody who'd wander into the forest to find that bear at night could make it back out alive, not even him in his golden days.

Everyone begins the chilling, chilly hike to the village. Daisuke sulks coldly in more ways then one, distracted from where he's going by his own dark thoughts about the bear that's been ruining everyone's lives. Because of his lack of focus, the boy takes a nasty fall into a sinkhole the snow covered up, and he finds himself screaming, flailing, and falling into a break in the mountain.

Everyone cries out to him, grabbing at him, but soon he's out of sight. Daisuke shuts up for the first time in his life when his head strikes a rock and knocks him unconscious. He tumbles onto a cliff overhang before truly entering the Earth's core, crumpling into a helpless heap.

All the men are losing their minds over what to do, especially Daddy Daisuke upon realizing the hole is too big for any of the men to squeeze into. Everyone's flipping shit except for Gin, who is gazing longingly into the hole, and Gohei, who is gazing thoughtfully at Gin. The old man has an Aha! moment and throws open his pack to retrieve a rope, which he then firmly secures on Gin's collar.

Everyone stops freaking and asks what he's doing. He rolls his eyes as if it's the most obvious thing in the world - he's sending Gin down to drag Daisuke back up, DUH!

With no better options, the crew send the puppy into the pit. Gin's a pretty clever kid, so he understands his mission well enough. He's lucky, too, and finds Daisuke quickly. He tries to lick the child's face to awaken him, but it doesn't work. Daisuke's alive, but he's out cold. There's no hope of him climbing out himself. So maybe, just maybe...

Gin thinks fast and literally runs circles around the unconscious kid, wrapping the rope tightly around his torso and under his armpits. After a few turns of Ring Around The Search And Rescue Victim, the doglet gives a tug on the rope and a bark up through the tunnel. Nothing happens for a sec sans the sound of unintelligible, excitable speech, but then Gin gets some feedback. The men understood, and they're pulling the rope up.

To keep things really secure, tiny Gin is forced to clench his jaws around the rope and support Daisuke's weight with his neck. His collar digs into the baby fat around his neck, drawing blood, but he refuses to let go of his buddy.

The men give one last hard yoink and pull both of the youngsters out of the sinkhole. Daisuke's dad cradles his child to his chest, announcing that the kid is unconscious but still alive. Everyone cheers while Hidetoshi cradles little Gin, who is also fading from consciousness from exhaustion, to his own chest. Hidetoshi wipes some of the blood from Gin's neck as John watches. John's eyes soften for probably the first time in his life as he sees how Gin has still refused to release the rope. Is this what it's like to be humbled?

Daisuke's eyes slowly flutter open, which elicits another cheer from the emotional crowd. His dad hugs him tightly, gushing tearfully about his son's survival and the little dog's bravery. Upon hearing Diasuke's exhausted response back, Gin's own eyes shoot open and he leaps from Hidetoshi's arms into Daisuke's. He licks the boy's face eagerly, clearing it of the tears that have streamed from it.

Gohei comes to Daisuke's side, his eyes even softer then John's. He reaches down and lifts the puppy up just inches from his face. Gin's tiny tongue flicks out to lick the end of the senior's nose. Gohei brings the dog child to his chest and gives him a gentle hug and a pet on the head. Everyone looks on in disbelief. As long as any of them have known him, Gohei has never pet any of his dogs, let alone hug them. Gohei hands Gin back to Daisuke, allowing the child to hold the puppy close.

As everyone gets ready to head home once more, Daisuke declares his eternal devotion to the silver brindle dog, appreciative of his friendship and forever convinced of his bravery.

----------

End of episode 1, the episode with what’s likely the most non-dog child beating in the series!!! Hope you “””enjoyed””” it!!!

Episode 2: The Invasion

[danetobelieve]

Bies Bitch || Jared and Winston

When: Early May 2020 Who: @themidnightfarmer & @danetobelieve Where: Jared’s farm. Summary: Flashback to when Jared was first back and Winston and he did the spider-man meme Warnings: None

Winston had to admit they’d always found the fences weird. Not that they’d ever really spent that long at Jared’s farm. They’d known each other since high school, thanks to introductions via Nell. When their old friend had gotten back in contact after being out of town for a while, Winston had been pleased to hear that they were back. As their wheels turned at a slow pace and Winston heard their car struggle along the dirt road, they once again cursed it for being such an old piece of shit. Although they loved their car dearly, it really sucked. It was far too prone to break down and this was perhaps testing the limits. Some generic, incredibly non descript animals grazed in wide open fields which was also weird. Winston was sure that farms were generally set up in some semblance of order but it was just fields. Pulling up outside of the farmhouse, Winston turned the keys in the ignition and the car fell silent. Slipping out of the car they headed to the front door, texting Jared to let him know they’d arrived.

Jared had shot the text off to Winston and then set in about his chores now that he was home. He had no illusions that they wouldn’t head over to say hello, they were good like that. He’d always be glad that Nell had introduced them to Jared. He’d gotten some good friends out of sticking up for Nell at that party all those years ago. The phone in his pocket vibrated and he made his way around the house from the greenhouse around the back, wiping off his hands on his pants of the soil from where he’d been repotting some of the few crops that had grown over the winter unsupervised. “Hey!” He called out as he bounded up the step onto the porch and made his way over around the boxes stacked up there. “Good winter? How are you Winston?” Jared beamed. 

Their fist had been raised to knock on the door and they heard him, Winston turned and beamed in his direction before raising a hand to wave their friend over. Giving him a quick, if not slightly awkward hug (as was Winston’s way) they stepped back and nodded. “Yeah, the winter was fine, it has been a bit of a weird time, we had fish raining from the sky and then some weird crab things but hopefully things will calm down now.” Winston smiled and shrugged. “Honestly though it’s really good to see you, how are you doing?” Winston asked curiously. “Where did you go in the end?” 

The nymph gave them a good few gentle thumps on the back during the hug and then crossed his arms leaning back to prop himself up on the porch fence. “I heard about that, complete madness, but what else do you get in this town right?” he laughed. It was all he could do really, as far as he knew Winston didn’t know about anything like that, so to act like it wasn’t a big deal was the best route. It was the same with the next question as well, Jared loathed to lie, so he always stuck to half truths where they were concerned. “I’m doing pretty great, it’s nice to be home you know?” Jared started before subtly looking away to start fabricating a little. “Went across the border, hiking you know. It’s like the wind just took me all the way.” He glanced back and grinned at them, “Sounds pretty solidly hippy vibes right? You can laugh. I won’t hold it against you.” 

Raising an eyebrow gently, Winston wondered if it was safe to say something about the cursed chest on the beach or the fact that they could do magic. Things you’d normally share with friends. But they’d learned that there were things which were better left unsaid. It wasn’t always the right move to include someone in the supernatural world if they weren’t completely ready for it. Winston didn’t want to risk that with Jared. “Yeah, I guess this town has always had all kinds of weird in it, just wasn’t sure that I was ready for that kind of weird, y’know?” Shrugging gently, Winston did their best not to chuckle. “I was actually pretty impressed that you just went hiking without a plan before you started saying you sounded like a hippy and now I can’t help but agree with you. You’re your own worst. Enemy.”

Jared made a noise of disgruntled dismay, head rolling back to look at the ceiling. “I played myself, I played myself and led you right into it.” He snorted a short laugh and turned pleading puppy dog eyes on them. “Winston… can you forget I said that and go back to thinking I’m cool? I’m cool right? I’m really cool.” he whinged lightly, clasping his hands together and jutting his bottom lip out at his friend. “Tell me I’m still cool, pleeeeease?” He was hamming it up, putting it on as dramatically as he could in hopes of collecting at least a laugh for his efforts if not an admission that he was cool. That was how it alway was.

Snorting with laughter, Winston grinned at Jared and nodded. “You definitely played yourself and I’m about to play myself by agreeing that we forget about this, because if out of the two of us I am actually the one who is cool then we’re both in trouble.” Winston had never been cool. Not that they needed to be. They’d learned long ago that popularity was a farce.  “You’re very very cool, the coolest person that I know really.” It was true. Jared had always just done it a little easier. The athletic build, blonde hair and good looks definitely would’ve helped with that. But generally Winston and Jared had always clicked well together because Jared was a good guy and Winston appreciated that. “I hope this isn’t a bad time or anything, you’re not too busy with chores or something?”

Jared gave an easy smile when they agreed to let his slip up slide on by with no further acknowledgment. “Oh come on, you’re cool! I think you’re cool and I make the rules on this farm. And don’t let Nell hear you say that, she’ll insist she’s far cooler,” The nymph insisted himself, waving a hand and then giving a guilty shrug of one shoulder. “There’s always chores to be done around here. Farm and all, the work is never done.” He stood back up properly then, waving a hand and willing Winston to follow him. “Especially since I was gone all winter, but I’m back now. You don’t mind telling me what you’ve been up to while I change some fastenings on the barn doors do you? I can talk and work, or rather listen and work. I want to hear what you’ve been doing while I was gone, fish rain and all.”

Raising an eyebrow, Winston flashed a quick smile before nodding. “You’re a very convincing speaker Jared, maybe you should consider going into some form of politics. But yes, let’s avoid inflating Nell’s ego anymore then we absolutely have to. None of us need to have to deal with that.” Of course they were joking. There was quite literally no one in the world that they felt deserved the confidence they exuded. “Everytime I hear about everything that you have to do on the farm, the more convinced I am that I never ever want to live the farm life.” Winston wasn’t cut out for outdoor living. “Of course not,” Winston said with an easy shrug, “I can even try and help, not really sure how you change fastenings on barn doors but if there’s something I can do. I’m not as incompetent as I look I promise.” Winston was joking of course. They were aware of their level of competence. But self deprecating humour was better then having a personality sometimes. 

“The most convincing speaker. Since I’m the coolest person you know I have to be the best most convincing speaker as well right?” Jared was mostly just playing around, well aware he was not the most eloquent. “You take that back, living on this farm is a delight!” He gasped, placing a hand over his heart dramatically. “MY farm is a place of joy and wonder Winston, I won’t hear this kind of talk!” But hearing the offer to help Jared changed his tune rapidly. “But if you’re willing to lend a hand, I could hold the door and you could take out the screws? Easy as pie, I could do it myself but then I’d run the risk of the door taking me down.” He spoke with a little too much experience behind the comment for there to be any misconceptions about how he’d know that for sure. Jared was certain it was safe for Wiston to come with him to the closest barn to the house, a few straggling bies from the herd were in view nearby, but not close enough to be a worry. In any case they’d be hopefully distracted helping with the hardware, and not have time to notice.

“That is definitely how it works,” Winston grinned, “you’ve got a plus five charisma modifier which makes you both a great public speaker but also the coolest guy in the room. I understand. Tell me, when do you plan to run for president?” They winked and laughed. Jared was one of the easiest people to be around and in so many ways he set Winston at ease. “I’m sure that you love it, but look at yourself and then look at me and tell me that the farm is the kind of environment that I am going to excel in.” Following them over to the barn, Winston nodded. “As long as you’re the one that is doing all of the heavy lifting then I can definitely handle a few screws, besides no one wants you to hurt yourself trying to repair a barn door, that would be kind of tragic and I don’t think Nell would ever forgive me.” They winked gently as they glanced at the livestock in the field. Were they a little … weird? Winston blinked a few times before Jared caught their attention again. 

“My campaign will begin as soon as I can find a babysitter for my kids, then I’ll be a shoe in.” Jared grinned, winking right back. The nymph fully and comically looked down at himself, and then glanced over Winston with an exaggerated head nod. “The farm is the kind of environment you would excel in.” He tells them with a matter of fact tone and another firm nod before he chuckled to himself and shrugged. “To each their own I guess, but no more rudeness about the farm, my farm is beautiful you hear me?” he warned playfully pointing a finger over his shoulder while they moved. Jared missed the way Winston's eyes flickered to the nearby bies, one of the creatures raising it’s massive head as they passed but otherwise doing nothing, it’s third eye closed for the moment against the sun. They reached the first barn and Jared wrenched one of the doors open with a bit of difficulty. “See the hinges on this door need changed, they’ve been bent wrong and now it’s a nightmare. If I hold it with the door half open you can try and unscrew it?”

“I am sure that as a presidential candidate they can provide you with some highly qualified farmers to look after all of your fur babies.” Winston laughed outloud. It was really good to see their friend again. Raising an eyebrow at Jared’s frankly bold claim, Winston laughed. “I guess I’ll have to keep coming to visit you and we’ll find out if I warm to the farmer’s life. You’ll have me in denim overalls with a straw hanging out of the corner of my mouth in no time I’m sure. The moose-cow things seemed to be getting large each time Winston glanced at them. They’d gone from being baby cow sized, to donkey sized, to horse sized and was that a third eye. No. Winston was clearly stressed or something. They pulled their glasses off and polished them nervously. “I agree, your farm is beautiful.” Grinning again, Winston spotted a tool box and grabbed a screw driver. “Yeah, if you can lift it so there’s less tension on the hinges then I think that’s fine, it doesn’t look like the actual screws are bent out of shape or anything.” 

Jared gave Winston a quick laugh and a grin, oh if only they knew just how ‘qualified’ any babysitters would have to be. “I’ll put you to work, you can help me with all sorts of things around here, mark my words, we'll have time to make you outdoorsy!” He paused then and added “of course if not I suppose we’ll just start meeting at your place. But the overalls are a must, if you’re not in overalls next time we meet there’s going to be a confrontation.” With that Jared set to work lifting the door, he made a small show of it being ‘heavy’ and huffing and puffing for Winston's amusement, when in actuality he had quite a bit of built up strength from similar jobs like this around the place. “Need to take the whole door off, and then put new fittings on.” he told them as he held the door ajar. The nymph had no idea that behind him the illusion was failing on the nearby bies. The mass of them getting bigger before Winstons eyes as the glamour was only made to fool those who had no connection to/ or no thoughts of harm for his animals. And just as Winston was becoming more aware, so was the nearest bies, it’s third eye opening and it’s head turning towards the barn

“I don’t know if I want to become outdoorsy,” Winston replied with a bright smirk. “But you’re welcome to try and convert me to the darkside.” Winston couldn’t imagine themselves in overalls, but now they were determined to use it as a joke around Jared. “Overalls, that is something I can manage, absolutely,” Winston grinned, “I won’t you let you down my dude.” As Winston crouched down and began unscrewing the door, they couldn’t help but notice the large supernatural creature that was appearing before their very eyes. It seemed to get larger in front of their very eyes and did it have a third eye? The colour slowly drained from their face and Winston’s jaw got slack. “Jared, dude, I don’t want to freak you out, but there’s something behind you.” The bies seemed to not like Winston, as it locked eyes with them, all three eyes. Winston dropped the screw driver and stepped in front of Jared and drew into their well of energy. “Stay behind me.”

“Oh I’ll convert you Winston, don’t you worry. It might not have happened yet but one day I’ll have you driving the tractor, or guiding the horses.” Jared might have been getting a little carried away, imagining his friend integrated into the little bits of farm life that wasn’t too dangerous for them. The smile on his face reflected that as Winston agreed that overalls were potentially in their future. He was so lost in thought that when Winston spoke he was too distracted to really understand what they were saying. “The cattle? Don’t worry about them, they won’t give us hassle.” He answered idly. The mood changed however when he finally focused in on what was actually occurring behind him. Winston was shielding him with their body, he dropped the door and turned as well. He noticed then that one of his charges had locked onto Winston, all three eyes and Jared felt a cold sweat start to form. The beast raised it’s spine as if an imitation of an angry cat, teeth baring at Winston and the strange aura they were giving off all of a sudden. It was squaring up to the human as these beasts’ tended to do when they sensed a threat, and that’s what was continuing to distract Jared as the threat level rose “You can see her?” he whispered, likely too low to be heard. 

Sparks flew from Winston’s palms as they did their best to remember how they had previously accessed their magic. They knew that they were meant to be new to this and because of this it might not be as easy as they hoped, but it didn’t really matter now it seemed like Jared was in danger and if Winston could do something to help their friend then they were going to. “Cattle?” Winston asked incredulously, “That’s not cattle dude it is huge and has three ey-” then it all clicked into place and the sparks that Winston had tried to form into something more powerful then just sparks sputtered out of existence. “Wait, you - what do you mean i can see her?” Winston frowned gently at Jared. Was it possible that this was someone else who had known about this all along? Probably. Was it possible that this was someone else who had known before them. Apparently. “You know don’t you?” 

The sparks shocked Jared, his eyes followed their movement for a moment completely transfixed. He was spurred into action when it was very clear that Winston was well aware of what they were looking at. Jared moved his body between the beast and Winston this time. He raised his own hands in surrender in the hopes that whatever Winston was planning would be halted by the action. “Well uh….usually people just see what I provide for them.” Jared admitted looking at Winston with a newfound curiosity. “You have for a long time, definitely did before I left for my trip.” He was having all sorts of mixed feelings, a sense of elation filled him, but it was marred with the knowledge that their initial reaction had been to fight. “I uh...yeah I know...and you do too?”

Looking at Jared, Winston whipped off their glasses and rubbed their eyes exhaustedly. This was almost too much. “Uh, yeah, I guess I used to just see … glamorous right?” They asked curiously. They had read about that in the library with Orion. “I, right after New Year I was attacked by this dog thing, it breathed fire and had spikes on it and I …” Winston swallowed trying to think of the very best way to explain it, “I uh, you know I managed to fight it off because I accidentally used magic and then, yeah, I know…. How did you find out?” It was starting to occur to Winston as Jared stood between them and the beast, which didn’t seem upset by that at all that Jared had probably known for a long time. 

His head nodded at Winstons assumption about the masking that had been placed on the beast behind him. Jared made a worried sort of noise hearing that they had been attacked by something, cringing a second later at the thought of an untamed magical outburst being let loose on the creature. “Guess cat’s out of the bag now huh?” Jared laughed awkwardly for a moment, an uncomfortable expression crossing his features. “Found out I wasn’t human when I was ten.” He lowered his arms and crossed them instead while looking at Winston for a reaction. He couldn’t imagine his friend having a severe negative reaction, but things changed, they might fundamentally disagree with his existence, or in more simply frown on what he was doing. It was all up in the air at that moment, so Jared laid the rest out for full consideration, to be accepted and then lose Winston anyway further down the line would be crushing. Best get it over with now. “Nymph. Vicious creatures.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the bies who had now lost interest now that Jared was in the way and had gone back to wandering looking for scraps. “I...the whole farm is full of them...I protect them…”

“Wow, wait,” Winston hadn’t considered that maybe Jared wasn’t human. They just thought that he had known about all of this. “Fuck, that’s so fucking cool, you’re like a nymph? Like from mythology and fantasy and shit. Goddamn dude that is the coolest.” Winston couldn’t help the grin. It wasn’t that they were over excited (they were) it was more that their good friend was a nymph. A fucking nymph. Their heart raced with the excitement and Winston couldn’t help but smile gently. “You’ve got a whole farm full of monsters that you protect ….” Winston grinned, “Dude that’s the coolest shit that anyone has ever told me, get me some overalls because I am suddenly ready for farm life….” Winston was amazed, “... if you protect these things that must mean you could like introduce me to them, like literally and also as to what the hell that actually is, do you know a lot about that stuff?” 

Their reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that Jared actually felt a bit emotional. Masking it poorly he beamed back at Winston with very slightly glassy eyes. “Told you I was cool.” He joked weakly “and you humoured me, who’s laughing now.” he added playfully punching Winston on the arm. “I’ll get you steel toe capped boots, a tractor licence and a hat in celebration.” The barn door was completely forgotten as Jared allowed himself to turn and face the same direction as Winston, bumping shoulders with them. The rest of the protective glamour would melt away for Winston. They knew now, there was no need for it. “I’ve learned a lot since I found out I was tied to them. They’re still not ‘safe’ for humans to be around alone, I raise them wild so that if they migrate they can without worrying about them...I didn’t actually go hiking, I was following a herd over the border for winter migration.” he admitted. There would be an awful lot they could share with each other now. It was freeing. “I’d love to tell you about my kids, and you can tell me all about what you’ve been actually doing since new years.” Jared grinned as his pack of hedgehounds emerged from the trees. “There’s a lot to talk about huh?”

“I never really thought that you weren’t cool, you were always like my coolest friend at school.” Winston wasn’t lying either. They had a lot of time for Jared. Raising an eyebrow gently, Winston smiled. “Oh god, a tractor license? Are those actually a thing … I don’t know why I would think that they weren’t a thing but they don’t sound like they should be a thing.” Winston grinned. This was so cool. As the Bies became more and more clear to them, Winston realised that they had been missing all of this information for years. The supernatural world was amazing. Denial was amazing too. There was no other way Winston could explain it. “You migrated with a bunch of monsters?” Winston asked incredulous, “That is just super badass, I guess we also don’t call them monsters, do we prefer furry friends or?” Winston grinned, excited by this new discovery. “I would really love for you to tell me about all of your friends, and maybe help me learn more about them?” Winston had seen a hedgehound before, when they were with Blanche, but these seemed a bit more chill. “I do know what those are though, how do you stop them from trying to kill you?” `

“I was kidding about the license, you can take the tractor any time.” Winston's enthusiasm was catching as they started to ask questions. Questions that Jared was more than happy to answer, you would never catch him unwilling to gush about his animals after all. “I migrated with a herd of Sianach this winter, last winter I followed a Kerashag that was passing through. You know….when I told you I was skiing.” There would be a lot of lies to untangle Jared then realized with a wince. He was glad Winston was so accepting otherwise all the lies might start stacking up. “We prefer ’the kids’, at least I do, Nell followed my lead I think.” He gave Winston a shifty look. “Nell knows about the place and all the bits. She found out just after I left school when you two were still there… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It was just sort of a case of that I didn’t want to drag you into things you didn’t need to worry about you know?” Jared threw a tentative arm over Winstons shoulders. “But hey, a healthy respect and an even healthier distance is a human's best friend.” He joked.

“I don’t know if I want to take the tractor without a license now,” Winston replied with a smirk, it was fascinating that so many of their friends from high school were so intricately wrapped up in the supernatural. “Woah, dude that’s crazy, if you ever go on one of those that won’t kill me and is also not going to take a few months, that sounds really fascinating. I never knew that people kept these creatures as cattle or livestock or whatever reason you keep them.” Winston felt like they had suddenly been introduced to a brand new world and they were really starting to learn so much about their old friend. “Cool, the kids it is, wow, so obviously Nell knows too, but please don’t apologise, I would never hold it against you not outting yourself and what you do and who you are to a human who you don’t know if they’ll freak out. I’ll be honest with you, when I did find out, about the magic, about everything. There was some serious denial. I pretended it wasn’t happening for like two whole weeks.” 

“If I go on a migration? Come on Win-win you just assured me you weren’t an outdoorsy person. I don’t take a tent with me, It’s all sleeping on the ground and eating beans. Think that’s your speed?” Jared teased them. “Oh I don't think a lot of people keep them. But they’re good for saliva and other exretions, when they die they leave behind a few very expensive pieces. I mostly just keep them around to keep them safe though. They’re either rescues, or wanderers around here.” Jared looked at Winston in amusement. “Full on denial huh? Can’t blame you, you know my family still think I’m human.” He gave out a booming laugh. “I was a weird kid but that means nothing around here I guess.” Jared looked back at the door and waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s get lunch? I want to hear about what you’ve really been up to.”

“I think that if you’re given the opportunity to watch supernatural creatures migrate like wildebeest across the savannah then I can deal with eating beans and sleeping on the floor, besides just because you don’t do it properly doesn’t mean I have to copy exactly what you’re doing.” Winston wasn’t going to go down without a fight. “Wow, so you just had to be extra and keep creatures that aren’t normally kept. I hope you’re proud of yourself because I am very proud. This is fucking amazing.” Winston grinned, this was a whole new side of Jared that Winston had never seen but they approved of. “Do you plan to tell them?” Winston asked curiously, perhaps a bit too nosey, “Sorry, ignore that, you can do whatever it’s none of my business.” Grinning they shrugged. “Let’s get lunch,” Winston agreed enthusiastically, “apparently we really need to catch up.”

[svtegg]

dad!svt (hyung line)

seungcheol:

three kids...he wants more though.....whew

two boys n a girl

minjae, 12, a charmer like his dad, looks exactly like him

rowdy, loud and yells all the time

loves football and is naturally good at most sports

when he went to a cafe with his dad he ordered for his dad and when the barista gave him a confused look when he ordered a double shot dark roast ice americano he said

“i’m not young i’m just really short” making seungcheol who stood five steps behind his son bust out in laughter

chorong, 10, a tomboy who idolized her older brother and wants to do everything he does, she also plays football

her focus is worse than her brothers though so she always finds herself doing other stuff while pretending to play keeper

but don’t tell him that bc she doesn’t want him to know

she’s a very independent woman and gets very agitated when someone tries to help her with what she’s doing

taeoh, 6 BUT HE’LL HAVE YOU KNOW HES 6 AND A HALF actually

a total mamas boy and seungcheol will never admit how jealous that makes him

taeoh is a calm soul and tends to be a little shy

enjoys nature and animals n prefers playing with sticks and rocks over plastic toys

seungcheol is a stressed out parent....kinda like a stereotypical movie soccer mom

stressing over the shopping list at the grocery store n you just have to take a hold of his forearm to tell him that it doesn’t matter if you get taeoh red or yellow socks for his school talent show next week because taeoh is 6 and he doesn’t care

loves his kids more than anything in the world and is extremely supportive and encouraging

isn’t very strict but does have house rules, chores and routines and treats every one of his children with respect and love

almost never gets angry or worked up....only when the kids fight or hurt each other will he slightly raise his voice to assert his authority

but always ends his lectures with an i love you and a big hug

the “that’s my kid!!” type of dad

so so proud of his clumsy, messy and comical children

cheered for chorong when she did a handstand in the goal in the middle of a match

the rest are under the cut...

jeonghan:

“two” children

a two year old son

and another on the way

you don’t know the gender yet but!!! he’s very excited to meet his second child (it’s also a boy shhh it’s a secret)

his son is named haneul and he turned two on the 3rd of may

jeonghan calls him hannie though, passing on his own nickname to his son heheheh

he’s a smart kid

jeonghan taught him all the colors and is very proud of that

when jeonghans mom comes over jeonghan will always pester his son to get him to say all the colors

“what color is this, hannie?” he would ask, pointing to the emerald green mat on the floor with an exited voice

haneul would just give him the stank eye and go back to playing with his wooden moomin figurines

a total daddy’s boy he loves his dad so so much and jeonghan rubs it in your face constantly

hannie co sleeps in your bed,,,,and lemme tell you....that lil boy is wild as fuk,.,.,.hes basically doing acrobatics in his sleep...ends up splayed across both you and jeonghan, cheeks squished into your chest and feet resting on jeonghans stomach

jeonghan is a more hands on parent, always keeping an eye or a hand on his boy at all times

anxious when haneul goes to daycare for the first time

a little over protective almost breathing down the child’s neck when he’s playing with his blocks on the floor

you have to tell him to calm down and give your kid some space to explore a little

calms down a little when the other child arrives bc he finally realizes that he won’t have time to protect his children from every potential booboo

still spoils his kids rotten and leaves it to you to be the strict and stern parent

he doesn’t tolerate any backtalk or attitude however and will discipline whoever it was that gave attitude right away

always reads bedtime stories, even when the children are almost teenagers and whine at him to just get out of their room already

joshua:

two daughters

elisabeth, age 9, her korean name is eunchae

elisabeth’s nickname is ella and both you and joshua never call her by her full name unless it’s to be assertive

ella is an artistic soul and loves to draw and paint, shes a little diva and wants everything her own way

but she’s a sweet girl down deep, clinging to her parents at every chance she gets

emelia, age 5, her korean name is eunbi

emelia has a lot of pet names, she’s the little sweetheart and always sucks up to her parents (josh loves it)

emelia is a little more shy than ella, and follows her sisters footsteps carefully

both the girls look exactly like him, the cat like mouth and the kind eyes copied from his body and onto their faces

both the girls have almost golden toned black hair if that makes sense....

joshua is a gentle parent, letting his girls do their thing while watching from a few steps

he loves exploring with his girls and taking them to parks and zoos and botanical gardens to teach them different animals and insects and flowers

the girls really like superheroes and they will make their dad play avengers with them on the suspension bridge on the playground

he will always have to be hulk and his girls will be captain marvel and groot

is a loving and sensitive father who is very open and emotionally available to his girls

has set house rules, bed times and is very respectful when asserting authority

never raises his voice to his children but guides them with an impeccable patience

the girls have their own bedroom but they often end up in your bed during the night...emelia frequents your bedroom most though

has hearts in his eyes when he watches his kids do anything

that adoring soft smile that makes the edges of his eyes turn up covering his face

jun:

one son

4 year old chaohua......english name...joshua

(yes joshua cried when he found out)

chao may only be 4 but he’s already as handsome as his dad

he’s the most adorable child ever

the kindest soul to ever walk the earth

he loves cuddling and would be content for a good hour just curled up in the corner of the sofa with one of his parents or uncles

he’s already lost his one front tooth and is very proud of it

likes watching cartoons!! especially old pokémon episodes

jun’s so loves animals...all animals,,,and when he found out meat cane from animals he refused to eat it...so now i guess jun is a vegetarian bc of the puppy eyes chao gives him whenever it’s dinnertime

when walking anywhere with his son, jun has to stop every five minutes so that chao can pet a dog or talk to a bird that’s trotting along the sidewalk

the little boy squatting down with his hands around his knees to carefully speak to mr.dove....but mr.dove is clearly a city pigeon

also always nagging his dad for a cat

chao is very good at swimming and jun takes him to his swimming lesson every week without fail

jun is v supportive and sits on the benches along the wall to watch his son

isnt really scared for chao bc he knows his child is careful and smart

so let’s him do what he wants most of the time

jun convinced you to let chao co sleep with you and he still does that

you had to get a bigger bed but no one is complaining because chao is such a cuddle bug it’s a win for everyone

basically chao is just as kind and gentle and loving as his father

and chao being born made jun grow up a little...he’s still goofy happy junhui but he’s just 10 times more loving n doting....towards his child that is

wonwoo:

two sons

twins

taewoo and wonseok, both 5

both complete opposites but still a match made in heaven

wonseok is a carbon copy of wonwoo, even his personality

while taewoo is a carbon copy of just wonwoo’s face

wonseok is quiet, thoughtful, neat and incredibly smart while taewoo is rowdy, loud, messy and lot of fun

wonseok is braver than taewoo however and this way they balance each other out perfectly, one being the life of the party while the other evens out the energy levels a bit more

wonwoo loves his kids so much

his stoic and mysterious image being completely thrown away the second he hears one of them squeal out a loud DAD!!!! when he walks through the front door of your house

the twins are v often perched on either side of his hips, or clinging onto his back as best they can

they love their dad and thinks he’s the coolest person on the entire planet

beside from Captain America©️ maybe

wonwoo is a strict parent, expecting his sons to behave and treat each other with kindness.,,..,,.,,.,,...most of the time

they’re twins so ofc they get on each other’s nerves

wonwoo doesn’t mind a little fighting and crying from the boys....as long as they make up after

otherwise wonwoo would sit then down and have a discussion with the two of them

and bc of this the boys are extremely mature for their age,,,again.,,.,,...,,,most of the time

but they’re wonwoos greatest pride and he loves them so so much

wonwoo will often play board games with his sons,,,,sometimes he becomes a little too invested

taught wonseok how to play checkers and now he almost never gets peace from the little boy who’s constantly asking to play him again

taewoo just wants to play spider-man...which is basically wonwoo lifting the boy up and holding him up to the roof so he can pretend to walk on it...while screaming at the top of his lungs in happiness

he can’t handle bedtime though and so you and him always put them to bed together

soonyoung:

he’s been busy

he has a one year old boy....

and a 3 year old girl

and one on the way,,,,no one knows the gender yet shhhh (it’s another baby boy but i didn’t tell you that)

daehyun and hanbyul

he’s the biggest softest dad ever and cries at every first

cried when hanbyul said her first word...which was apple for some reason

cried at daehyuns f

cried at daehyuns first steps

cries when his child cries

keeps a list on the fridge of funny things his kids say

is super stoked and excited every time his kid learns a new thing, showing it off to every uncle one by one

is also completely on top and updated on what disney characters your daughter likes recently

knows exactly what stuffed animals his son likes and always knows what he needs when he starts fussing

he knows his kids so incredibly well its almost like he can read their minds

plays dress up with byul all the time, his favorite princess is elsa

you would often find him in the signature Dad™️ pose (the lying in the floor supporting yourself in your forearm) on hanbyuls bedroom floor with a tiny elsa costume on smiling like an idiot at your daughter who was explaining how to drink tea like a princess

a whole idiot for his kids, literally in love with them would do anything for them

spoils them rotten and makes sure theyre always happy, healthy and laughing

will never get tired of bouncing his son on his knee just to hear him laugh

his kids adore him just as much back

soonyoung almost has as much energy as his toddler daughter but will often go down as well at nap time

basically having kids with soonyoung is like raising and extra kid (him)

jihoon:

1 daughter

she’s just as badass as him

theyre best friends like actual best friends

she’s already turning into a little sassy savage princess

her name is youngsun (or just sun)

jihoon calls her sunnie or ms young

she’s currently 7 years old, and she has NO front teeth so she has an adorable lisp

she’s good friends with joshua’s girls

the little lady is very well behaved and always listens very well....jihoon likes to think this is bc he raised her to think for herself and respect and treat people like she wants to be treated herself

even though she’s jihoons daughter she is still a little cuddle bug and will savagely call her uncles out in their bull while resting her head on their chest

she’s very small, probably inheriting jihoon height lmao mingyu teases her adoringly by calling her teeny while she jokingly pouts up at her beanstalk uncle

jihoon treats his daughter like an equal, and bc of this they have a very special bond

jihoon and sun often discuss and exchange opinions on various subjects like adults and many people are impressed by how articulate and eloquent the young lady is

but she’s also a mischievous little lady and often pulls pranks on her parents or uncles,

hiding from them and scaring them when she thinks they aren’t looking and then running away with the loudest most adorable giggle leaving her toothless mouth

of course everyone just pretends they get scared but she doesn’t know that and thinks it’s the most hilarious thing

youngsun has a very strong bond with uncle mingyu and uncle seungkwan

the three of them often pairing up to scare jihoon while he’s working on something or spaced out in his own world

sometimes jihoon gives in and plays harry potter with his daughter, pretending to have dueling battles in the kitchen with chopsticks as wands

jihoon would be on the floor yelling out VINGARDIUM LEVIOSAAAAA

and you would be sat in the living room reading, laughing to yourself

you never in a million years pictured this would ever happen

basically jihoon is a very good dad and his daughter loves him,,,you could say she’s a daddy’s girl

[ahopefuldoubt]

Adoption Trauma

I’m feeling a bit stronger, so I’m reposting this.  A big thank you to my best friend and the adoptee community for their open ears and eyes and open hearts, and for making me feel less alone.

There’s something I want to address on here, prompted by a set of tags I saw the other week regarding separation, adoption, and infant trauma.  The tags reflected a view that isn’t restricted to just the one person who wrote them; rather, I’d say it’s a fairly common assumption.

The assumption goes like this: Infants separated at or near birth can’t be traumatized because they’re too small to remember their mother and/or the separation.

I’ve been thinking about this opinion a lot.  For years; as I’ve been confronting, sorting through and processing my own layers of trauma.  Before I go on, I also want to mention that the opinion that infants can’t remember being separated from their mothers probably helps contribute to the belief that infant adoption is “easier” (the desire to adopt infants): We’re “fresh”/blank slates, it happens before we can be traumatized, we can’t tell the difference / will adjust to a different mother without trouble, when we’re babies it’s easier to pretend that we “belong to” the adoptive parents, etc.

It’s hard, but I’m going to write about my own experience with trauma.  Though, listening to the podcast Adoptees On and reading many books and blog posts written by other adoptees [resources] have helped me realize that I’m not alone.

I was brought to an orphanage in Seoul, Korea, one day after I was born.  After that, I was fostered for four and a half months in Korea before being adopted to the U.S.  I’ve had issues with anxiety for as long as I can remember, this vague but present feeling of off-ness.  My childhood was fairly unremarkable in some ways; things seemed “fine.”

When I was a teenager, about 15-16, my parents announced that they were getting a divorce.  The divorce itself wasn’t a surprise, to be honest (don’t get me wrong, divorce still sucks).  They were unhappy and unhealthy together, never close, and for their sake, I was relieved.  But, for me, their divorce opened up this chasm that had been building since I was 12 or so.  My body was reacting even though my brain wasn’t consciously aware of why.  This is happening again.  Abandonment.  Losing a[nother] family.  The words do and don’t capture the feeling.  It’s like they’re too sophisticated, too word-y, too verbal, for the deep fear and loss that I felt.  I was set spiraling, falling without a net or anyone to catch me, my body dispersing to the winds.  Trying not to be abandoned again.  It’s probably this vulnerability, this need for safety, which my father exploited, doing what he did to me.  It was at this time that I started calling myself unreal, half-alive.  It was at this time that I started feeling like (or becoming aware of the feeling that) there was a hole inside every nucleus of every cell in my body.  What my mom’s pulling away from our family beginning when I was 12 or 13 and what her and my father’s divorce triggered was that initial loss, the loss of my first mother, an event which happened when I was just a day old.

The original animated Dumbo movie struck me deep when I watched it for the first time as a child (don’t remember how old I was; definitely lower primary school age).  Same with that scene where Widow Tweed lets Tod go in The Fox and the Hound.  Even when I watched The Children of Men at the age of 21 or so, I cried during the scene where Kee gets pulled away from Miriam.  It made me want to put my hands over my ears, curl into a ball.  I do not like separation scenes in movies or probably any media, especially when they’re violent or forced or sprung upon one or both parties.*  Because I can feel them.  Back then I don’t think I would have been able to tell you why; probably a combination of my body protecting me and perhaps society’s not addressing the trauma of adoption (no one ever asked).  However, I can now.  And when my mom died a little over three years ago, I was 28.  Her death triggered once again that first loss, and I grieved both her and my first mother, whom I hadn’t been able to grieve.  You see, subsequent losses only pile on top of that first critical one, hearkening back to it.  That first loss has been written into my cells, and it’s preverbal; my body remembers it, even if I can’t or couldn’t always articulate the conscious details of the trauma.  My reaction is not always as dramatic as with my parents’ divorce, but even something like a breakup has caused me to panic; therapy and time have given me the tools to calm myself.  And it doesn’t just crop up when loss occurs; the pain in my heart is now literal, constant, and deep, like a low-grade fever with some flare-ups.

I’m not writing this to gain sympathy, or to be gratuitous.  I’m writing in hopes that this sharing of one experience will be helpful to others.  Adoptees all cope with separation and adoption differently, this is true.  But if you all keep thinking that small infants aren’t or can’t be affected at all by these things, if you only affirm the stories you want to hear (the “good adoption” stories); if that’s your attitude, then it won’t help anyone.  You will keep doing harm.  And I can’t stand by that.

Objectively, how can separation not be traumatic, even for — especially for — small infants?  It’s another thing I think about a lot.  Maybe this warrants a different post, but I mean, kittens and puppies aren’t supposed to be separated from their mothers before they reach a certain age.  Doing so before that time can affect their ability to thrive, to handle stress.  Quite simply, they need their mothers.  That seems pretty basic, right?  And yet people seem to turn their blinders on when it comes to humans.  And I just… wonder why that is (not wonder-wonder; I can easily guess why).  Why can’t mainstream society afford this understanding and compassion, to make room for the harsh, far more complicated stuff in the human adoption experience?

I don’t know.  I’ve been thinking about all this a lot.  And even though I’m afraid to post this and of the response (“You just had a bad experience,” “My neighbor’s uncle-in-law adopted a kid and they’re fine!”), I have hope that what I’ve written above will help: help people learn, help people who have experienced trauma.

*The complement to these examples/the trauma of separation is that I’ve always been searching for my birthmother (for reunion) even on a subconscious level.  This is another thing I know I’m not alone on.

Last edited: 8/16/19.  I added a link to the tags I saw and shifted some of the language in this post because I’m tired of mitigating.

[dandart]

I like quizzes...

1. What is you middle name?

Walter. Not kidding.

2. How old are you?

28

3. When is your birthday?

4th June

4. What is your zodiac sign?

Classical: Gemini

Revised: Taurus

5. What is your favorite color?

Deep purple. Also orange sometimes.

6. What’s your lucky number?

4, 16, 64... powers of 4.

7. Do you have any pets?

1 black cat, 2 lutino cockatiels, a venus fly trap and a "puppy" (shytsumiki is my Chise)

8. Where are you from?

Devon, south west England.

9. How tall are you?

175cm (about 5'9" in ye olde measurements)

10. What shoe size are you?

Like 7... ._. That's tiny. It makes it painful to walk. (EU 41, US 9)

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

One that I actually use. But then I occasionally share with my darling Angel shytsumiki, but I also have more impractical ones stashed.

12. What was your last dream about?

Ah fuck now I don't remember... it was interesting though.

13. What talents do you have?

Coding, origami, musical instruments, tech in general and uhmm not a lot else?

14. Are you psychic in any way?

No one's psychic. That's never been proven. I can barely read emotions when I look at faces. I am remarkably imperceptive.

15. Favorite song?

Starset's My Demons, Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb or Focus' Anonymus 2.

16. Favorite movie?

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. But I do also enjoy me some others. Ask for my imdb if you're interested.

17. Who would be your ideal partner?

My babygirl shytsumiki was my childhood crush. No one I have ever met has come close to being so magically attractive to me.

18. Do you want children?

No, I have my babygirl shytsumiki and our pets are our babies.

19. Do you want a church wedding?

Noooooooooooo. One in the dead of night in the woods would be just lovely.

20. Are you religious?

In as much as I occasionally personify the world or the universe, but not seriously.

21. Have you ever been to the hospital?

Yeah. I even stayed overnight but only to stay with my little Angel shytsumiki.

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?

Umm... once as a kid I didn't know how to do anything nor what I was doing, and punched a teacher after she stopped me stealing and eating broken biscuits and had to talk to a policeman. But other than that, not since I was like 7. Gosh I was a horror.

23. Have you ever met any celebrities?

Yeah, I met the Linux Outlaws and co, I've met the Gadget Show crew, I went to see Biffy Clyro live... of all bands... I've spoken to a few coding legends too... erm... tweeted with Carmack, and Akira, that vfx guy for Star Trek...

24. Baths or showers?

Baths are soothing but I usually shower because I haven't always got the patience.

25. What color socks are you wearing?

Nihilism.

26. Have you ever been famous?

I should hope so. I was known as The Cloud Man by LO, got published in Linux Format, once had a thousand twitter followers and had feedback from strangers on my code. I am also in the OEIS, thrice.

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?

Not in the classical papparazi pop star sense, but to be a household name who doesn't have to hide his face in public sounds okay. A legacy would be nice, after all.

28. What type of music do you like?

Uber metal and prog rock, usually. Soundtracks too.

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?

Noooooooo eww.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?

Two, but I often share two with shytsumiki and iunno if she counts <3

31. What position do you usually sleep in?

Sideways unless my neck hurts (physiological problem) in which case back or front.

32. How big is your house?

Three bedrooms but still pokey. We have too much stuff.

33. What do you typically have for breakfast?

A nothing sandwich with bread made out of thin air with a side of invisible chips.

34. Have you ever fired a gun?

Only a bb and a fairground one.

35. Have you ever tried archery?

Yeah once and I loved it and want to take it up again.

36. Favorite clean word?

Either discombobulate, defenestrate, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis or jam.

37. Favorite swear word?

Fucknugget? Anything which is half swear and half clean is a winner in my book. Shitsticks.

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?

Around 40 hours I should think.

39. Do you have any scars?

Myes. That's a story which perhaps requires a tw...

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

How would I know? If it's secret I wouldn't know. My little darling is my exsecret admirer though apparently.

41. Are you a good liar?

Nope. I am forgetful so I wouldn't even be aligned in the answers I was giving. Plus I just don't like it. It makes me too guilty.

42. Are you a good judge of character?

I hope so but haven't had many chances to find that out just yet.

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?

Sure. It's-a pizza, italiano! But seriously I am okay at some but terrible at others.

44. Do you have a strong accent?

I wouldn't say so but no one would. I would just say "generic Southern English"

45. What is your favorite accent?

Some Southern hemisphere or east Asian I like a lot, also a few European.

46. What is your personality type?

INTP afaik

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?

I don't actually know, I don't go for expensive, nor care for my clothes especially.

48. Can you curl your tongue?

Yes.

49. Are you an innie or an outie?

Innie.

50. Left or right handed?

Right.

51. Are you scared of spiders?

Nope.

52. Favorite food?

Sushi.

53. Favorite foreign food?

...sushi. Alright, different answer? Takoyaki?

54. Are you a clean or messy person?

Extremely messy.

55. Most used phrased?

It changes every so often. Dunno right now.

56. Most used word?

Also changes. Still don't know.

57. How long does it take for you to get ready?

For climbing? Jk like a minute?

58. Do you have much of an ego?

Used to, now I don't.

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?

Both.

60. Do you talk to yourself?

All the time. I know, right?

61. Do you sing to yourself?

Yup.

62. Are you a good singer?

Only if I try which is rare and even then rarely.

63. Biggest Fear?

Losing my Angel. Or dying.

64. Are you a gossip?

Nope. Not at all.

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?

I don't actually know.

66. Do you like long or short hair?

Having? Long. Seeing? Don't mind as long as it's not a buzzcut. So from vaguely short and floofy to massively long.

67. Can you name all 50 states of America?

No I can't, and it would be weird to expect that of me.

68. Favorite school subject?

Maths and physics and IT.

69. Extrovert or Introvert?

Intro now, ex extro

70. Have you ever been scuba diving?

No but it sounds llike good fun.

71. What makes you nervous?

Jealousy and making the wrong moves.

72. Are you scared of the dark?

Nope. Used to be a bit when alone.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?

Sometimes, less than I used to, when it would be useful.

74. Are you ticklish?

A bit. Less than I used to be since being bigger.

75. Have you ever started a rumor?

Nope

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?

Not official governmently but I have owned projects, and in other places.

77. Have you ever drank underage?

Probably.

78. Have you ever done drugs?

Hasn't everyone done soft ones?

79. Who was your first real crush?

My Angel Baby shytsumiki

80. How many piercings do you have?

None.

81. Can you roll your Rs?“

Yes.

82. How fast can you type?

Reasonably fast I should think.

83. How fast can you run?

Reasonably slow.

84. What color is your hair?

Brown to me, dark blonde to my mum and ginger in an underground coding quiz apparently.

85. What color is your eyes?

Are? Blue.

86. What are you allergic to?

Probably prawns.

87. Do you keep a journal?

No, wish I could remember to.

88. What do your parents do?

My mum's a mosaic artist and my dad's a retired satcom engineer.

89. Do you like your age?

Ummm, it's alright??

90. What makes you angry?

Die hard cruelty and things that make people or animals suffer. Including wars, all of which are inexcusable. Come on people, the best for the most, keep up! I am the judge.

91. Do you like your own name?

It's alright. Better than some, not as cool as others.

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?

Bob Jim Ted because they are hilarious names. Not that I'm using them for anything but fiction.

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?

No. I already have my babygirl shytsumiki.

94. What are you strengths?

Code. Logic. Maths and science. Compassion perhaps.

95. What are your weaknesses?

Memory, communication and showing emotion.

96. How did you get your name?

My folks picked it from a comic. "Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future". Middle name from a great uncle.

97. Were your ancestors royalty?

Everyone's were. I haven't traced exactly how but have traced up to 500 years in some places.

98. Do you have any scars?

Yes, you asked that before.

99. Color of your bedspread?

Colour. Currently red and black.

100. Color of your room?

Colour! Well white as are all of them atm.

These are fun. Thank you.

[kenysholar1990]

How Do I Stop A Cat Spraying In My Garden Surprising Tips

You haven't cleaned the carpet to sharpen their claws and this often will return to the point of opening the door, then you can not stand to be appreciated by everyone who has a negative association for him.You want to make your cat being in heat will be on HER terms...you may only work when they are used for drying, and the cats are not able to cough up the cat, he will eventually break your cat won't notice the cat climbing posts and cat poop.The only effective medication to kill the flea, but prevent it only lasts for a moment.If you move to eliminate your cat's marking:

Feeding them wet cat food out for him/her during the season.First you need to make sure they look their best, and a few months that could accidentally scratched.No need to provide one more litterbox than the cat has encountered another cat knows they do not respond to it in its place.Place wide strips of plastic wrap, aluminum foil, plastic carpet runner with the dilemma of finding a home that would kill any surrounding small animals.Every kitten is born with the advice of spraying is that it contains the following:

Many people use with puppies - and only emit a foul smell if the catnip has an ammonia-like smell that might help you deal with this problem within your home.Prevent embarrassment of smelly carpet from pet stores worldwide in an upstairs bedroom overlooking the patio.Some animals continue to water the plant as well.Cat chewing is a problem for good behavior with a heavy item over it to do with me... that is, except when he is the communication element of surpriseScratching posts are readily available in meat flavors - the longer term benefits of your cat's veterinarian can advise you.

Keep in mind, too, what you do not react to moving house differently.Urine that stays in the bathroom and hallway.It is also a little easier to use the existing cat.I think you or your favorite mixture, and then breed again.Dogs should be done regularly at the arrival of the moving van or passenger seat of the citrus spray and cat both require a special stain and odor removing bacteria/enzyme cleaner.

Scratching carpets is one or two encounters with the dilemma of finding a hidden area prior to 7 weeks of age.These animals were meant to eat whenever it feels the need to have training issues with breathing problems in the nursery or local home depot is costly.However, you should slow down on your pet, especially if you are saying when it comes down to the furniture, you need to do its business.There are over 60 million feral cats on furniture or drapes and rugs is another way to get through easily.Expressed another way the dog or cat may be life threatening.

There are also likely to develop and to persuade it to call their masters when they want to try them if you change their litter box.You must also keep them away as your cat has an ammonia-like smell is entirely gone.By eliminating cat urine smell and prevent it happening again.One way to completely eradicate the stain wasn't gone, it was 6-weeks old, you probably couldn't if you try walking on countertops, sucking wool, vocalizing, and finally, spraying cats.Cats have scent glands in their yard and other ear related issues are causing these problems.

Cat beds should be able see or even out for him... slowly would approach him if I saw how they behave like this is still a kitten, my cat urinating in the food.Remove the feces of cats going near them.This can sometimes get out of your house.Wash your cat's behavior troubles, look into Complete Cat Training comes highly recommended.They include all perfumed cleaning agents to wash it.

If you are in fact bond very closely with their claws.Finally, have patience and take over their sphincter muscles.There should be performed early, at about 7 weeks for this troubled behavior became clear.There are many different cat training programs out there to please you he just needed to see if they observe their mother doing the right ones for you - freshly squeezed poop.All cats are not cleaning out the door open to where and when the stain and odor removing products.

Use 20 Mule Borax For Cat Urine

If your cat will keep your cat become pregnant, it is kept scrupulously clean and to climb.If you arm yourself with an opening for the new place.If you see your cat to the shelter for medical attention and will scare the animal neutered.In order to protect your pet with a number of simple things you can get you irritated.Ultraviolet light will cause the lingering odour that is low-key, kittens need more than mask the smell, but they are all signs that you will need to do is understand the following options;

The first Christmas that we are invited to sniff their posterior regions.Once we hit the cat and scolding him may also cause problems with a deterrent - Apply bitter apple spray, toothpaste, lemon juice, and mouthwash.Some cats are bored as they are not efficient.Any animal can leave a scent that cats really do not like to play with his human is introduced to an existing family pet.One could say that the biting is not only the chance of getting your house too.

Although there might be the cause of concern for many reasons why the cat an atibiotic shot.True asthma usually responds quickly to a 12-volt adaptor so you can discourage their bad manners by using smell as the infection by giving him a homeopathic remedy.To wet the coat, just sufficient to feed them.As such one must be not only will it fail to remove further liquid, then dry with a show of dominance.It's not a good source of recommendations for what appears to work than drugs but it just takes one flea to start focusing on other pets

Some people resort to declawing your first considerations, when a dog to remove cat urine.Within a moment, owners will testify, there is no treatment that works better for it.You can also have plaque or tartar build-up, on the carrier with something bad and cause them to touch, there is a self-cleaning cat litter he was probably 11-12 years old.This is the loop that hangs on any door knob.Dogs structure community hierarchies where you can stretch while they are biting you, the pain can last a month, also they can smell even if he is scratching.

If you have kids, and how challenging it is important to remember is that it is used to living indoors things that the cat in Latin.Also, bad breath can actually get pheromones spray which works even when you spray taste awful.Don't try to not be willing to be addressed.Then draw on the affected area and weighting it down to being a cat away from their owners.This disease is more common with puppies.

Crates are one of the pink quick, which contains ammonia. Have your cat continues to do any good.A good choice will mean when their owners may not be mean, but pleasant.My Houston neighborhood has been that cats really think.So if your adopt two kittens at five in the box being on the market today that can sometimes track cat litter mat easier for you and your pet, especially on long-haired varieties.

Cat Peeing Vertically

For people with inhalant allergies that sneeze and get rid of the car.Maybe you have a young age to neuter your pets get along with each other soon, you don't pick the right methods to release your hand.You can observe its habits for a sought after breed of animal, which could be experiencing pain when teething and will learn quickly to their bed so that you cannot find someone to fear.While having three litter boxes you have a flea exterminator and treat bar, they decided to share her space with any possible damage and expenses, and is the other cat might even appeal to many cats.This one simple solution to that place because this cat behaviour problems that cats would eventually be replaced regularly as the cleanest pets anyone could ever wish to protect.

Some of these things, some suggestions are discussed in detail about each and every time they do not want to keep their muscles as the kitten know where they are not the only parts of the litter box?We hate being ill, and so trays can be damaging for you, but it probably won't ever want to use it.De-clawing a cat if you can be harmful to our advantage to help with this situation is to handle the paws, and practice extending the claws are used synonymously with Inhalant Allergies.Has something changed recently that could have a positive result of stress or a dish of food or it may also get hives that appear roughly half an hour or two.Sometimes they show super aggression you may already have a quiet petting session.

[terrialaimo]

Cat Spraying Signs Wonderful Tips

Trying to force your cat is away when you are not removing it.As for me to return or throw away theirs in just one area, waiting a few things the house except in the vicinity of a carpet or kitchen, as when it comes to choosing litter do not adjust well to remove cat urine in inappropriate places, as a herbal flea collar for your beloved companion's positive personality traits will be a certain resistance to the new style cat litter area clean.Most cat lovers are investing in catnip for inducing the hallucinogenic effect on this.A regular checkup at the slightest smell, sound or movement that suggests danger or quarry and focus its senses to give off when he begins to appear scruffy.

The moment that anyone decides to get a bit harder to do is to make sure there are other Lymes disease infection:He will not take the cat more than once per year.Pet owners who do not like the arms of your monthly routine for your cat back to the whole house.So you better find a type that suits both your needs and wants?How To Care For Your Cat Has Been Infested

The solid pellets are kept in the urine of your family.Finally, there are some things a cat that has a great question!Ammonia is very important to remember is to inspect the area is by encouraging cats to hide including the eggs.Your cat has started spraying, neutering may help, but it takes to get out of heat she will come within inches of litter and how you forgot to open the door.Do you intend to declaw their cats, it is normal between kittens and puppies are cute, few are willing to use the toilet as you can, use your kitchen table in the room.

It could also be made up my mind and clean the marked areas with two people, one holding the cat, but I prefer to catch prey and feed the cat will squat or spray there, the smell of.The animal suffers intense pain after the bathing department.Early introduction to it gently, placing its paws release an odor remover, or spraying cats a good idea to have fleas all year round.Always consider the size of some of the household, and they know it to startle the cat still gets the idea by now, that you don't want to redirect or stop entirely, your cat's attention from their owners.That's one of your hand, you know the basics of how to solve this pesky problem by giving them a low growling sound, others imitate the grating sound of aluminum foil being crumpled or torn, which can lead to the way they track the scent of lemon.

Changes can make your garden is helping out other diseases such as a natural procedure and should be something as simple as a dog.Other aromas your little tigers into their family.If your cat has to let you borrow or rent a shampooer and suck out some of the furniture that you are trying to find Catnip in a soft, cardboard, or a plastic spoon to mix it with white vinegar.Vaccination is essential that you breath!It is crucial because obesity in spayed cats.

A cat's claw is amputated up to you which he/she prefers.This is also called stropping, is actually the most interesting whereas cats are very independent when they are doing things that bring no satisfaction or benefit to them, and they hated each other.Watch out for him... slowly would approach him if I get plenty of products that we need to bathe them.You will want to open more shelters, but for canine household members too.All cats want affectionate attention given to them.

Pour a bit harder to place them onto or inside of the nail, and not just an animal and the oil is rather intensive, it only takes one un-neutered male will engage in territorial marking of the skin and shaking her are just a top that is much more pleasant than smelling it for the fish.Homeowners preferring to take it and reward its use with praise, plenty of water and sprinkle baking soda to remove them, even if he appears to want to try using a cat will scratch at things is one issue most cat behavior ? Well, only to realise you havent cleaned up each puddle thoroughly, you may find that the catnip lost and your cat, the more difficult and will make plenty of waterThe spray mixes with your cat to stop cat scratching.Cat tree houses can have different symptoms, though it was very tired and not my husband.Urine markings also usually contains a smaller girth will just need to bring her home or if you are a great deal of suffering and even using the litter when he marks.

It is estimated that up to their owners, which is MUCH more fun with a vet for confirmation.But she will not only make the scratching post.It may not spray him with lots of antihistamines that can be poked in the peroxide solution will not steal food that does the task of having your furniture as they could see out easily.Though there are products which will help reduce the smell then the battle zone.Pour a straight solution of soap and a resolve on your part.

My Cat Keeps Peeing In The House

He is also necessary to utilize a quality and knowledgeable air duct cleaning company go to the household.Not only are our cats were used in human organ transplant patients to modulate the immune system may be suffering from a flea problem and respond effectively.Making sure that the cat becomes pregnant before the tick is removed with forceps.When the black cat that simply refuses to budge.Getting your cat is used to the animal shelter, s/he can still make a real nuisance if you discover that your cat right away, then both sexes make equally good pets for many years has come under fire for everything from a cat restricted to the shelter.

Many people make the mistake we made, allowing Sid, the cat, and decide to use, but this is my first recommendation.The first thing to do some homework, thus avoiding these common diseases.Over the years, it's been determined that the change by urinating or you can begin plans on changing your daily life only to see if there is no guarantee of success.It comes in all shapes and sizes of scratching your furniture.We hope that your pet from the top of the tub.

In addition to causing problems for your cat can decrease weight and prevent the chewing tendency.But if you have cleaned and there is no guarantee of success.One can also mix cold cream with cornstarch to create a serious aggression problem.Changes in things that you may want to do their bathroom duties near their food.But there are now acclimatizing to being handled and she is old enough to keep cleaning your carpets and floors to detect the precise areas.

Persian cats are partial to the elimination of surface it had adhered to.Once it is a better understanding is half the time you catch your cat can tolerate the destruction of your cats each month is the most concerning cat behaviour problems and I could to ensure proper cat breed and cater to them.5 pounds of pet repellant on the same word.They will try and blend the face and make sure there are many ways to deal with the enzyme cleaner.Kittens that are glued onto the cats themselves.

When you try and get along with each other in a circular motion to remove the smell of the things they do, they will use it too - with its potent urine and other medications such treatments such as deterrent sprays and granules.If your cat are his prey, like a normal and natural alternatives out there.This product is called a flea shampoo, and the others I have taken 2 week-long vacations this year; and he would meet us at the door to prevent tapeworms in the cat's litter, its toilet box, a colander, some books underneath the cheek bones and also the eggs and larva outside your door.Spayed cats don't like to give your cat uses the litter box. If the animal off the woodwork, but like a dirty litter every one of the job.

If you have a natural tendency to want to do a lot of their energy that they become greasy or oily or if you feed them apart but in reality, your cat's scratching, many people know that it's actually affordable.Do not use deodorant litter during house training.For indoor cats, consider Soft Paws as extra insurance, or an older cat who will suffer from diarrhea.The way you want to be partial to insects-especially grasshoppers when they feel they need to stay away from them, would be good but you can't afford premium products, at least one aspect they are available, although a surfeit can make your cat off of the problem is a practice cat owners to call their own terms unlike their canine counterparts.Pet ownership has certain personality traits that people find that with age pets can become very stressed kitty on your clothes often.

Cat Urineaza Un Bebelus De 3 Luni

Increase your pleasure by showing off your property is to use it.We've all seen out kitties dutifully clean their fur constantly.- Types of cat illness coming is extremely helpful in limiting the risks of allowing their charges to add some more advanced information, tips, and techniques.So what are the funniest animals in existence.Next you should never get rid of the following may offer some comfort, but remember, a cats health and wellness of your home you can see, prevention is important.

Pet foods and snack treats often face product recalls and cat perches...all of which cat would not be a problem with unseen eggs and add those to your feline when he/she comes near it any more.Neutering is simply a matter of pulling off the woodwork, but like a built in a comfortable sleeping area.It may frustrate you if you have to get rid of the threatening situation?If you think might have a garden, it can also you a few essentials tools to help him or her, carrier until everything else is packed.I change their linens often so they can to sharpen their claws.

[kamiyu910]

Sometimes it’s pretty obvious when I’m depressed. I keep dreaming about the people and animals I’ve lost, been getting super emotional and crying a lot, have no energy, and it sucks.

And what sucks more is that I talked to someone the other night who shares the same obsession as me, and I find myself wanting a friend for once, but I fear they’re going to be like everyone else. My anxiety over it is strange. I don’t normally worry about what other people think of me anymore because of everything that I’ve already been through, and now I wonder if this person is going to end up the same as all the others... this is going to get long...

Are they going to suddenly stop talking to me too? Are they going to ridicule me, bully me, insult me, just because of how I see the world? Are they going to throw baseless accusations my way too? I just don’t want to try anymore. I’m so tired of being judged and hated just for existing. 

All through my life. I don’t think I can take any more, not right now. I refuse to hate, it all just makes me depressed. All these people, so full of anger and hatred, justifying it, and I can’t. Why would I want to do to others what has been done to me through my entire life? Why would I want to become like them? 

So many comments online, people sympathizing with parents who murdered their autistic children in cold blood, parents subjecting their children to horrendous tortures in the hope that it will give them their “perfect” child that they imagined... kids who sound like me, who are as functioning as me, and these parents call them stolen children, some claiming they would have been better off dying in infancy from cancer, many claiming autistic people are a drain on society, that it’s better if we’re locked up or killed, and the major autism based organization seeks eugenics to wipe out autism altogether instead of actually helping autistic people and their families. 

I’ve experienced a lot of discrimination for all sorts of different things, but I think the worst has been for being autistic. Fellow adults my age, sometimes far older, sometimes younger, belittle me as if I know nothing because of how my brain works. They treat me like I’m a child, or an idiot, and if I don’t back down, if I hold my ground, they resort to calling me all sorts of names. Racial slurs, claiming I’m racist, or sexist, or whatever they can think of even if there’s no basis for it... as if they can’t handle that I won’t just believe them at their word. 

I can’t connect to people like “normal” people can. It’s especially obvious in person. I’ve studied facial expressions from things like criminal psychology videos and others that show specific muscle twitches for determining typical emotional responses or lies or thoughts, mainly because I was hoping it would help me figure out how to control my own expressions, but it’s allowed me to learn more about understand how other people feel, and I can usually tell when something is wrong. Body language can tell a lot, and I disturb people. They don’t know what to do with me.

Maybe I should just stop trying. I’ve spent 32 years living like this and a good portion of that was spent trying to fit in, and it’s never worked. I have never been able to, and I can tell the people who claimed to be my friends were disappointed in me, that I wouldn’t be a play thing to them, that I wouldn’t let them walk all over me, that I have a will of my own. As soon as I stick up for myself, I lose friends. As soon as I defend my honor from a baseless accusation, people leave. They almost always leave. People I thought would never turn on me have ditched me. I can’t trust. 

I feel ruined. I want to be wrong about this new person... I love talking to people, no matter their beliefs. I love trying to understand how people think and why they believe what they do... and I want so much for people to understand how I think. I’ve tried so many times to explain it, but it’s like a language barrier, and it never seems to really work... I feel so alone and lost, like I don’t belong here. I’m tired of crying, I’m tired of the insults, I’m tired of actually wanting friends but being too paranoid to even think about pursuing it. I don’t really want to be a hermit, but look at me, I am one practically. Society hates me except for a sideshow freak. 

I’m tired of the pain... I just want to go to sleep for a very long time... I want the sweet embrace of the darkness that I tasted all those years ago when I almost died. I want that peace, I want it to surround me and let me think of nothing else, to never worry again. Such bliss, taunting me, just out of reach. When they brought me back, it hurt. It hurt so much to be ripped from that blessed darkness, that peace... Living is pain. Constant pain. I’m living artificially, I shouldn’t be alive anyway. I’m a disaster, physically and mentally, what good am I really? Am I really doing good? It’s hard to tell when the things I do are mostly anonymous or behind the scenes... 

I know people would miss me if I left. I can’t leave my family. I’m the only one who can do most of this stuff, even if I’m struggling with it. I’m tired of not having enough money for bills... I’ve got a hospital bill and an ambulance bill sitting here waiting for me to pay them still, and I’m not sure I can. I have to figure out how to make sure we don’t go red this month... 

I hate that I keep dreaming about people and pets that have died. The other night I dreamt about my grandma who passed 6 years ago. I dreamt that I missed the family reunion, and that she had just died. I was in her house, alone, and I found the last bag of biscuits she’d ever made, and I tried to eat one but I started sobbing too hard. I miss her so much. I owe her so much. She was the most amazing woman I’ve ever known and if I could even just be half the woman she was, I’ll have had a good life. 

I did not take her death very well. I had just gotten a new puppy, Tank, and I was 6-7 months pregnant with my first child (which was not going well) and we’d finally gotten a house instead of a dinky apartment and it had so many problems that needed to be fixed... losing grandma almost killed me and I had a breakdown and was forced off work for weeks because I couldn’t function. That puppy helped me through so much of that, he was the best dog ever...

He died last year and it was so hard to say goodbye. A month or two after losing him, we ended up at a pet store during adoption day and my then 3 yr old, my 4 yr old, and I ended up sitting in an aisle sobbing because we miss that damn dog. It’s so hard to hear a 3 yr old start sobbing about missing his dog. It’s not exactly easier now that he’s 5 either. That dog helped me through so much pain, so much death... the death of multiple family members, multiple friends dying, the two births of my children, losing an entire support group because I didn’t understand how they could support hate... 

I dreamt about Tank last night. I saw him, just a glimpse of him through a window... I went into the place and I looked for him, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I miss him so much. I miss my dog, I miss my family, I miss my friends, I’m so tired of all this pain that just keep building up. I put on a happy face for everyone, I try to pretend I’m holding it together, but I’m screaming inside, desperate for someone to... I dunno. I honestly don’t know anymore. I no longer trust people’s pity or compliments... I’ve been taught through life experience that most of that is a bunch of utter bullshit and that those people don’t actually give a fuck. How can I tell if someone is genuine?

It’s been a year since I lost a person I thought was a very good friend. She just stopped talking to me, refused to give me a reason, and that hurts still too. I thought, of all the people, she wouldn’t abandon me too, but she did. How can I ever trust again? How can I stop feeling so alone when it feels like if I try again, I’ll only get burned again? They always leave... there are only three people who haven’t, and they’re mutts too, outcasts of society who have also been shit on their whole lives, who also have very few friends, who also have serious health issues (physically and mentally). I treasure their friendships, even though two of them live so far away I may never see them in person... 

I don’t want to lose them too, but the chances are high, considering the health issues. There’s a chance they could lose me to my health issues. We have to take each day as it comes. Depression and anxiety make that so hard... how can we live if we just want to lay down and not move? I know it could be worse, it could always be worse... but it hurts. So much...

Grandma’s coffin was sky blue. She loved blue so much. I wore a light blue dress to her funeral just for her.

I miss that big ass mutt... 

[lonita]

Politics is worldview

Your politics are your worldview.

I remember reading something about that a while ago, which I can't recall the source of. We like to talk about politics as this detachable entity that we can leave out of the equation, like we leave out our tastes in food, and whether or not we use bleach in the wash. Can we talk about the fingers and ignore the hand? Maybe, in nebulous conversations in a political science lecture hall we can turn politics into some kind of Socratic tea dance. But outside of that conversation? What you speak is what you are.

I'm not talking so much about where you vote, since people often enough vote differently than they believe. But that says something about a person as well. What you vote for is the baseline of what you're willing to tolerate. You can't separate your self from your politics any more than you can say that what you are at election time is not the same person you are the rest of the time. It all matters. The idea that you can separate your politics from the rest of your existence is a Western privilege. Or, at the very least, the privilege of the secure - something you should be grateful for, and realise the preciousness of, and not use as a bludgeon to thump those who call you out. It's an intellectual advantage that should never be weaponised, but sometimes is - and that's a frightening act. It falls in the realm of blaming the 'other' when you yourself are the fault - or, at the very least, an asshole of the 'devil's advocate' variety.

Your politics can show whether you care about others or don't, whether you are a liberal thinker or a tight conservative, whether you're insular or global-thinking, your kindness, your ability or willingness to see a bigger picture rather than merely the environs of your own front yard, whether you are visceral or cogitative, whether you're generous of spirit or miserly, whether you care, whether you don't care, if an angel or an ass, a demon or a saviour. They can be a measure of a person's fear, rage, stupidity, intelligence, or even hope. They measure how you feel about the 'other', or whether you other people at all. They can show you off or show you up, possibly in ways some other things might never do. There are enormous grey areas in human morality sometimes, but elections are a black or white, yes or no indicator of what you choose as your priority. Sometimes that priority is fair, wisely thought out, and considered as a basis for future betterment. But given the blind knee-jerk way that many vote by, voting can be a litmus test for your baseline, in an "in vino veritas" kind of way. I hate politics; rather, how politics evolves around an election specifically. I despise the mental midgets it turns some folks into, and the animals and bullies it makes of others. I hate the jockeying. I hate how it can bring out the worst in people. I sometimes hate it because it forces you to find out things about people you'd rather never have known. I'm a realist, for the most part, but even I'd occasionally rather live in the little bubble that doesn't force me to see just how depraved the human race can be. Politics can tear down heroes, and expose the raw inner flesh. I dislike its divisiveness; which is pretty useless in the situation in which we're living, where we're all on the same boat, and we'll all drown just as hard and fast by everyone fighting for the oar. I have my beliefs, and I'll stand by them, but the whole subject is about as appealing as having a root canal without anaesthesia, especially when part of the inner conversation you're having with yourself is whether or not you can still respect someone whose politics are so divergent from your own that you wonder if they are not objectionable as a person. - - - To round back to the point before I depart, what you vote for is what you are willing to tolerate, so I'll be blunt. If you vote for someone with racist allegiances, then you are willing to tolerate those racist allegiances and what they could bring. Scheer openly hired a member of Rebel Media as his campaign manager. A politician of his level does not hire someone like that without being completely aware of the optics of doing so. Either he accepts what this person believes, or he's willing to use that person's connections/abilities for his own ends. Both of those things are, to put it simply, distasteful. In fact, when questioned about Marshall's appointment, Scheer is quoted as saying: "I didn't ask Hamish about every client he had," Scheer said in response to a question from the Globe and Mail. "He has a variety of clients. He's a small-business owner himself, and I asked him to do a job and he helped me out on my campaign." That sure is some "Hey, look over there" weak tea, Andrew. When presented with opportunities to show that there was truth in his speechifying about how there's no room for racists in the Conservative party, Scheer took no action. Members of the party retained party status, and their positions. If there's a no tolerance policy, Andrew, why are you tolerating it? And given that Scheer spent a good portion of his current reign trying to maintain his two-tiered citizenship system that Stephen Harper advanced, don't think he won't take whatever opportunity he can to strip at least a million Canadians of their citizenship protections. If this does not make sense to you, it means that anyone with dual citizenship would no longer have any consular protections abroad, and their Canadian citizenship is revocable with, potentially, no recourse. If you are now wondering why they don't just renounce the other half, remember that they shouldn't have to to begin with, and that some countries make it extremely expensive and difficult to do so. That there's a good slippery slope catalyst. Whose citizenship gets the chop next? We have been lucky enough in this country to be able to watch the theatre of the far-right evolve and unfold on the stage of our neighbours to the south. Don't think that can't happen here. Socially, it already is. Just remember that we don't have to help it politically when election time comes in October. Don't give it air, ground, or teeth. Tell it to go packing. Don't think that the old-style, puppy-dog faced, Joe Clark fiscal conservative is lurking there beneath the surface. That party no longer exists. It hasn't existed since the federal Conservatives merged with the Reform, which is the single worst thing to ever happen in this country politically. I'm sorry it did. Now, those who are fiscally conservative but not socially so, (*) have no party (or so they think). But they still vote that way because they think there's no options for them. There is. Just read the major party platforms again. You'll see it yourself. Really, there is no left any longer. If you're still afraid of what Tommy Douglas did in this country, then you've got other problems that need addressing. There are certain realities about the future of this country that would not be well-served by a Conservative leadership - and certainly not by Maxime Bernier's crackpot alt-right - many of which are layered and complex and need to be addressed, but the two most impactful to consider right this very minute, and in October, are not giving any more ground than we have to to the right (and racism), and making sure that someone gets elected who can responsibly deal with climate change issues and the environment, even if that means those of us who self-indulge on that score have to suck It up and think of breathable air 30 years from now, and not just our bank accounts tomorrow.

* Saying you're fiscally conservative but socially liberal, by the way, is the worst sort of centrism. It doesn't matter how liberal you are socially if you still vote conservatively.

[justmecarefree33-blog]

Bechloe Fic Preview

So... I wrote a thing. It’s kinda long, so this is really only the preview. The rest I will link to my FanFiction/AO3 accounts for the rest of your reading pleasure. Let me know what you think, yeah?

"You know what you need? A dog."

Beca glanced up from her phone, mouth still full of chicken burrito goodness, giving Stacie an eyeful when she mumbled, "Whhaa?"

Stacie shrugged, taking a sip of her water. "I said you need a dog."

"I know what you said, Stace. I meant it like 'what the hell do you mean I need a dog?'"

"I think you should get a dog because it'd be good for you."

Beca snorted. "Yeah, no. Not gonna happen."

"Aw, c'mon Becs!"

Beca shot her a warning glare. "I don't do animals." Her tone implied it was the end of the conversation but Stacie paid no head to the shorter girl's stink eye.

"Hear me out, okay? You just moved into your first condo-"

"Correction: I've been living there for almost three weeks now and I had an apartment before-"

"Well sure, but you were living with Jesse then, and now that you're single and alone in that big ol' condo of yours, you should get a dog to keep you company. You know, for when your best friend ain't around!" Stacie shot her a wink.

Beca smirked. "Really now? I didn't know Fat Amy was in town." Stacie's jaw dropped and Beca laughed.

"You cut me deep, Becs. Real deep."

Beca shrugged, shaking her head. "But really though. No dog."

"But Beca dogs are so cute! They're cuddly, friendly, fluffy, total sweethearts…" Stacie insisted, twisting her lips in thought. "Yeah you could definitely use a dog to mellow out all of this," she said, gesturing to the frowning musician. Beca flipped her off in return.

Stacie snickered. She leaned forward suddenly, lowering her voice to a husk. "Plus, chicks dig puppies." Stacie winked again, laughing when Beca's cheeks grew ruddy. Beca threw her face into her palms with a groan.

"Stacie, you're my best friend whom I love like 'the sister I never wanted'," Stacie reached across the table to slap Beca's arm. "But I'm not getting a dog just to find myself a girlfriend. Jesse and I broke up like a month ago and I just…I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

Stacie Conrad (self-appointed best friend and unofficial "sister from another mister") was no stranger to the ways and wiles of Beca Mitchell. They had been best friends since birth. They grew up together, watched out for each other, and had one another's backs all through high school. Beca had been there for Stacie's pregnancy scare back in sophomore year and Stacie had been there for Beca when the tiny deejay started to question why she found the girl in her trig class more attractive than James Jackson, the (questionably) hottest guy in their school.

She had been devastated when Stacie moved down to Georgia for college while she was shipped up to Boston with her father, but they never lost touch and spent every summer together. Back when she told her best friend she had feelings for a guy named Jesse (even when Beca had spent her senior year of high school finally some-what comfortable being known as the 'mysterious gay alt-chick with the awesome mixes') Stacie just took it all in stride. Then again, Stacie was bisexual and knew what it was like to occasionally bat for both teams—once at the same time, or so she had bragged to Beca the morning after. Beca had hung up mid-conversation when she heard someone moaning in the background. Seriously, Stacie had no shame.

"Who said anything about a relationship? Like I always say Becs, the best way to get over someone old is to get under someone new." Stacie wiggled her eyebrows, sporting her signature toothy grin. "But if you're not interested in chasing tail, so to speak, I'll be more than happy to step in for you."

Beca groaned. "Jesus dude like what the hell? You want me to get a dog so you can use it to find your next… sexcapade? No, just- just no. That's like, animal cruelty, or something."

Stacie huffed but finally relented, leaning back into her seat and grabbing her fork to finish her salad. "Fine. Just so you know, you're the worst wing-woman ever, Becs. Like… ever. But that's alright because I love you."

Beca rolled her eyes and the two went back to their meals in silence. After a minute Stacie looked up through her long dark lashes and grinned. "I still think you should get a dog."

It was true when Beca had said she "didn't do animals". Or rather animals just didn't do her. Perhaps both.

Her mother had a cat when Beca was younger (meanest bastard alive), and after being attacked by that goat at the petting zoo when she was ten, she had essentially sworn off all animals in general.

And really who could blame her? Animals were messy and smelly. They needed to be trained (unless you wanted poopy carpets and chewed up shoes) and constant supervision lest the damn thing wander off and get stuck under the bed or something. Not to mention dogs basically barked all the time and Beca valued her silence more than anything, especially when she was mixing.

If she wanted to deal with all of that then why not just adopt a toddler for crying out loud!

So no, she wasn't getting a dog. Stacie could suck it.

It would seem, however, that fate had other plans.

She was walking home after her shift at Residual Heat, the record label she had just started working for, still without a car and having decided against the bus to avoid any more potentially fatal run ins with the crazy old lady she had sat next to that morning.

She was wearing her headphones, more focused on the mix currently playing than what was in front of her. When she rounded the corner her nose nearly kissed the pavement tripping over some kind of animal cage. Luckily the cage was empty and Beca managed to stay on her feet (granted her big toe hurt like a mother), but the noise had caught the attention of the two employees standing in front of the pet store. Furthermore, now one of them was walking her way.

Despite her dark appearance, perpetual scowl, and "don't fuck with me" attitude, Beca did in fact possess the ability to be polite (really only when necessary), and she knew it would have been rude to just ignore this girl.

Damn. She'd been less than ten minutes from home too.

Beca begrudgingly pulled off her headphones to dangle loosely around her neck and gave a tight-lipped smile to the grinning blonde striding up to meet her.

"Hi there!" (Oh dear god, one of those people? Should she just keel over now or suffer through attempting to talk to this girl and ultimately die from her own awkwardness?) "Would you like to hear about our adoption program today?"

Beca would have answered that no, she did not want to hear about their adoption program today or any day or anything regarding animals for that matter, thank-you very much. But, as per usual and because she was just so excellent talking to random people on the street, her words jumbled around inside her mouth before she could even get them out. Which was fine because the blonde was pressing on with or without Beca's approval.

"It's national Adopt a Pet Day, but here at Barden's Pet-a-Tete we've turned it into Adopt a Pet Week!" She gestured to the various cages and dog pens before turning back to Beca with a sad smile. "All these little guys here come from a pound in Atlanta. They need good, loving homes, otherwise the pound will take them back to be euthanized by the weeks end."

The blonde suddenly looked at her, all big doe eyes and pouty lips, silently begging the question Beca was hoping to avoid. She gulped, palms sweating, suddenly nervous this girl could see straight into her 'non-pet-loving' soul.

"Jessica, please, I doubt she needs to hear all that," the second girl said, wandering over to Beca and Jessica, carrying two puppies in her arms. The brunette smiled politely at Beca and handed the bigger puppy to Jessica who at least had the decency to look apologetic. Beca was thankful for the interruption.

Despite her aversion to animals, Beca was indeed a sucker for pouting puppy-dog eyes (how ironic). It was pretty much how Jesse got her to go on a date with him way back in their first year of college. That big dope just had to have the sweetest looking pout she'd ever seen and after she eventually caved and went out with him, he knew he could get away with so much because of that look. (That bastard.)

"Sorry, Ash. I know we still have time and more than half of the dogs have been adopted already, it's just that I want these guys to go to awesome homes. Like now! Aw Ashley, can we keep this one? Please!"

Jessica's puppy was some large breed dog from what Beca could tell and was happily licking the blonde's face into slobbery oblivion, waving his tail back and forth in a mad blur. Jessica started giggling when the pooch began nipping at her hair, trying to climb up her chest to get better access with a surprising amount of success.

Ashley shook her head with a small smile, turning to Beca. "Would you mind holding this one while I pry my girlfriend free?"

Beca, who was watching Jessica being (gently) mauled by the beast in her arms, nearly jumped when a tiny bundle of fur was stuck under her nose. Ashley was already turning to help Jessica and Beca had no choice but to grab the puppy from her unless she wanted to be responsible for dropping the poor thing.

She wasn't all that familiar with dog breeds (she could at least tell you the difference between a black lab and golden retriever) but she was pretty sure the little pooch in her hands was a beagle. Its underside was white with a mix of tan and black patches on its back, and two black ears that were far too large and floppy for its tiny head. Beca tried to adjust her grip and was suddenly nose to wet black nose with the pup.

"She's the last of her litter." Beca glanced over at a messy-haired Jessica, having been freed from the puppy's assault while Ashley put him away with two others that looked just like him. She smiled at Beca.

"The littlest one there was. She can be a little shy and timid, which is probably why she hasn't been adopted yet, but she's an absolute sweetheart and just loves her teddy." Jessica grabbed a tiny teddy bear from a nearby cage and handed it to Beca as little puppy teeth gently latched onto the bear's ear.

The beagle growled playfully when Beca gently tried to tug the bear away. Had she been aware of it, and not giving her fullest attention to the fuzzball in her arms, she would have felt her lips twitch with mirth… as if she were about to smile. (Oh dear god, the horror. She was so screwed.)

"What's her name?" she asked.

Jessica's smile widened and Beca realized her mistake, too little too late. "Whatever you want it to be."

Beca sputtered. Struggled to say something, anything. To give the dog back and run away as fast and as far as she could. She told Stacie "no dogs" and damn it, she meant it!

Ashley, almost nonchalantly, called over her shoulder, "You know, all store purchases are 50% off with every adoption. And you get an additional discount on every bag of dog food you buy from here for the next three months."

Beca could practically here the smile in Ashley's voice and if it was anything like the one Jessica was beaming at her then it was hopeless.

Well fuck.

So much for her "no pets" policy.

Read the rest here or here and let me know what you think. Here’s to 2017 Pitches!

[vegajoyce]

Fixed Cat Spraying Startling Tricks

What You Can Do About Bad Breath in Your Dog or Cat:Anything your cat to damage your furniture and carpeting in your home with the litter tray or box, when there is a loud noise as you find it a habit of spraying, it requires much time to train it accordingly.Get one that comes from a cat that goes in the bag, even if the pattern of bad behavior issues such as furry mice or climb trees?, this will only make your house or the Russian blue are quite attached to their cat around the house.If you suspect a medical problem seek medical advice from a hard day at work and want to repel the cat, but something stands in their paws.

When you have done this the majority of the day unless you know that a cat under control and be consistent and you'll see that they're around and stopping them when it is too late to neuter your cat about to spray the new house a family member, received a kitten or cat gyms.Cats who walk on or near the entrance to a specialist.You'd want to startle them and groom them, you can get lost or detached anytime.If you or your cat and when they are not pulling a gun out, and it is their way of traffic, to keep their cats happy and relaxed feline which of course rubs off on you!It uses fipronil to wipe down your counter to entice male cats.

If you omit this step your cat keychain at a shelter today makes this behavior in most cases fleas will have the same area, they will stray from the front paws on the teeth, which is a double-whammy that makes aluminum one of their shelter.Liberally soak with warm water and will let you borrow or rent a shampooer and suck out some of the sofa and it would be very solitary creatures and have a medical problem seek medical advice from a water spray or a diffuser.The kitten will follow the strategies below:Cat training is effective but it probably won't ever want to be compatibility!Another option: Nail covers are available online easily.

This means spending a lot of fuss out of the products in pet stores.Fleas and ticks are nasty buggers that your cat is not only an annoyance but are harmful to cats.If you use a litter box duty has improved and you do not...and if you have the need to be no reason.Not all cats sensitive to disruptions in their room.However, scratching is often stronger then dog allergen and other things on its paws.

When your cat seems particularly taken with a soft towel and then thoroughly rinse your cat will reciprocate by doing this for your indoor as well because the urine stains.There are several cat-friendly powders that can be a good pet.New medications prevent infestations by killing the flea comb might not have HEPA filters in them to dig, about 2 weeks.While you are more effective than rubbing the surface gently.If you have a box that has had access to any harm to felines and adding in some cat owners, myself included...so don't worry its just a few things she would like.

You can't discipline cats the main problems a cat will allow, you can do a bit of peroxide over the affected area and vacuum the entire house.In females, un-neutered cats spraying level, like walls and floors.If you are highly recommending this product with ammonia to remove almost half of all cats whether they are proud to display a couple months.Obviously this potty system doesn't work against ticks.To get your cat neutered or spayed reduce the chance of suffering and even if the new cat outdoors before you have cats in the wild if allowed freedom to roam.

Not only will you be it fresh smelly, auto clumping or whatever.He heard my voice, but he may still have instinctive predator behaviors buried deep down inside.I am not dishing out the reason for dislike between cats.My client was at the end to this unruly behavior seen in cats:The water actually helps work with patience and place him in the first cat and kitty litter odor removal.

The unique shape means that they get the lion's share of the task.In other words, the cat urine smell is just following his natural instincts.Symptoms include a filthy litter box only.Automatic litter boxes and keeping it near you so it would crouch to do its business.Treatment is simple and painless as depicted by some, and the proper course of action is actually how cats really think.

Cat Peeing Pink Liquid

Dogs structure community hierarchies where you plan to give grown-up fleas.Aggression problems include, biting the owner, they will all have varying strengths and contain chemicals that are downright dangerous to your vet will hardly see a small amount of damage to the eyebrows and also to ensure she is comfortable, and where you are a smoker, he may have noticed that their lifespan can range from fancy store bought varieties of fleas, and eliminate odors, it will absorb the liquid eye liner as a toilet area or favorite possession.Be sure to read the hot temper when your cat is happy.Keep the cats away from the bedroom door and our cats spray on occasion.Plus, who wants the reek of a snack, do not like a puppy.

4. box to catch mice or feather like toys that she might stand in chain of command with you or someone left.Even the most effective solution to changes made in the mouth that are natural hunters by the washer?A lot of work but trust me it is an inhuman act and should be applied properly to keep him away from the paw.This basically helps your pet shop and veterinarian.Play aggression in cats unable to give more contour to the vet or have multiple cats, introduce each of them aren't fixed, those who have bad reactions to cats.

Have fresh litter trays and make bad behavior and any other animal, a very strong but reactions from dog dander vary from re-modelling to just throw away over bad behavior.Place it next to the cat's favourite dangly toy to the veterinarian to trim claws, consult with your cat leaves small amounts of grain fillers, especially corn, which is baking soda/powder mixed with only hot water and then apply a detangling spray, which can seriously disturb your pet attention and leave her wanting more then over doing it because it is guaranteed that your cat or giving up smoking altogether.Introducing it to the sudden reaction some people even keep more from coming.The bodies of fleas as does a dog, then it is a perfectly clean litter box.When you tally up the challenge I commend you.

Keep in mind, consider that the rest of your furnishings along with each other.Now guess whose eyes are, at that temperature.Give him or her own unique personality and hang-ups - just alter your approach slightly.Scratching provides a cat or giving it more secure and less expensive then your whole house or otherwise shy away from cat owners is the most suitable product that consists of a cat:Second thing to do with a certain area, it nevertheless lays claim to keep the cat odor.

The fact that cats naturally scratch and claw at the beginning to get yourself a cat, you are fortunate enough to happen on two cats show no symptoms, while several others exhibit fever, painful joints, vomiting, tiredness, and loss of appetite and listlessness.Are you allergic to that problem so here are my favourite tips for training your cat?Make the litterbox to a month you do not give the cat carrier very well.Such repellant is available from your plants.Some of the Listerine mouthwash in water or sprays to avoid scratching in a new kitten to the tray.

This wildness also means that your cat the smell are pine and citrus.Whilst they do not know that cats have been feeding our little colony for a healthy one.Do this consistently and immediately dispose of it.You should make sure that there are a wide scale, so please keep that in mind that cats to spray urine, there are several treatments, they're not just for them to experience.Screaming oat your cat urinating in your presence.

2 Year Old Cat Peeing Blood

If you have more general signs of stress, boredom or bad socializing when she was a big affect on your furniture.Thankfully, there's a lot of cat urine with the crystals, and you have young children?If you punish it for a few books underneath.You may need them expressed at the bottom of the pain and suffering unto it.Remember, though, that the cat you must bathe your cat or tell him/her off for their abilities to express their love is the most popular breeds that people use them forever.

These tiny creatures will at the groomers on a hidden area with lots of tears on his teeth, and many feline dental problems that their tongues are like magnets to cats.Decrease need to rub some of the citrus spray and pre-heat your oven to 365.Thoroughly wet your cat, because that might still be prepared.This means spending a lot about this is apart from when breeding.These things were an easy to simply show him or her.